Beauty and a Frost Giant
by lilwhodat
Summary: When Loki is forced to find a love and have her return the feelings in one Earth's year, he finds himself in the presence of the beautiful and alluring King Cobra or agent Buckingham. Her mysterious ways intrigue him and he finds himself falling hard for the assassin. What if she doesn't return the feelings? If he fails he'll be forced to give up the Asgardian throne. Loki/OC
1. Chapter 1

To say she impressed him was an understatement. He was awed at her, totally fascinated and completely intrigued at the mystery that was Elizabeth Mandalay Buckingham. The 5'3 bombshell had crashed his world, and now he was preparing to do the same to hers.

She had medium length thick dark brown hair that reached her collarbone. Her large brown eyes, full luscious lips, and buttoned nose weren't easily dismissed either. He also loved the way her curves ran through her short frame, giving her a nice healthy athletic look. He knew she had trained for years to achieve the abilities and skills she now possessed. Her cat-like reflexes, stamina, agility, stealth, quietness, and predatory eyes were all part of her training as an assassin and one Loki wouldn't overlook. Being one of the few people who actually caught his attention, and held it long enough for him to scrutinize over every single detail that she possessed was a challenge Loki was ready to accept. She had a sketchy past, and an even more sketchy origin. She didn't tell anyone who her parents were, or her life before she entered SHIELD's radar. The only thing SHIELD learned about the lightning fast assassin was that she was constantly on the run, and always had a knife, gun, or some sort of weapon on her at all times. The perfect solider she'd be called, if it weren't for her mistrusting ways, multiple personalities, and never truly revealing herself to anyone.

The only person who had half succeeded in entering her life without being killed was Agent Clint Barton better known as Hawkeye. He had made his way into her heart by giving her the job she now held at SHIELD. Although she still didn't completely trust the sniper, she cared for him more than most people that she allowed to enter her life. Next was the billionaire, genius Tony Stark or Iron Man. Despite her best efforts Betsy often found she was babysitting the grown man and often times saving his ass out of trouble, although on a handful of occasion he had reciprocated the favors. There was also Steve Rogers, the golden Captain America. Although she wouldn't admit it, Betsy found him the most attractive out of her teammates, and the most pleasant to work with, other than Hawkeye but even than Clint liked to talk to her too much for her own taste. Steve was quiet, and shy around her, mostly for the fact that she was a woman and he didn't know how to act around girls, he never did and she bet he never would. There was also Bruce Banner, the Hulk. Betsy would never admit to anyone her fear of the green giant, but she learned that the scientist was a nice enough guy to earn her respect. Finally there was Thor, Loki's older brother and first born to the Asgardian throne. Although she enjoyed Thor's company and often sided with him in disputes she couldn't help but find him annoying at his innocence and mistrusting ways. But he was her favorite despite what others though, he respected her space and privacy as a friend yet worried enough about her to be mistaken as a brother.

As Loki continue to watch her from his perch on the balcony of the tall tower that loomed over the city of Asgard, he watched her make her way into the tower that held the dungeons. He knew what she'd find in there. He had kidnapped Agent Barton with the intention of trying to put him back under his spell, he was fond of how the sniper got things done and was interested in more of his stories of the young assassin. But he hadn't realized that by kidnapping the sniper that the beautiful assassin would follow, searching for her friend in hopes of bringing him back. As Loki looked down at his hands, blue with different grooves and markings etched into his skin, he knew his Frost Giant form would repulse her, making her turn her back on him and leave without a fight. But as he slipped into the dungeon tower and saw her kneeling in front of the door that held the sniper his heart melted a little at the sight. He knew Clint was sick, the trip to Asgard wasn't easy on the sniper, but he hadn't realized how sick until he saw Betsy kneeling before the door holding his hand has he coughed and choked bitterly.

"What are you doing here?" Loki yelled at the assassin and grabbed her shoulder forcing her to turn around and throw her torch the only light that illuminated the room besides the light from the top of the holey ceiling.

"Who are you?" She asked, quickly looking around the room. He realized she must've been weaponless since she didn't reach for a weapon instead she leaned in more towards the door, ready to defend Clint at a moments notice.

"The prince of this palace." Loki hissed towards the frightened killer. Although she refused to show her weakness and fright, she couldn't help but shiver in the presence of the stranger.

"Please let him out! He's sick he could die!" she pleaded to the prince. She usually would never beg, but Clint's life was at stake and she wouldn't be the reason why he would die.

"Than he shouldn't have trespassed!" Growled Loki, although Loki had kidnapped the sniper with the intention of turning him back into his personal slave, he didn't want to explain that to the SHIELD agent.

"Please I'll do anything!" she pleaded again, knowing well she could easily get taken advantage of if it meant saving Clint she'd do it.

"There's nothing you can do!" Growled Loki. He knew he was cursed from his Frost Giant heritage, but now he was given the opportunity to change that. His curse was upon him until he found someone to love, and earn their love in return, or else he'd be doomed a Frost Giant forever and give up the throne of Asgard. He knew Thor had learned humility from the Midgardians and Odin hoped maybe Loki could too. Loki hadn't realized he had fallen into the trap that Odin hoped he would. Odin knew very little of the SHIELD agent Buckingham, but he knew Loki was intrigued by her. As Loki began to walk away, letting the sniper fall to his fate of death he heard Betsy's one final attempt to save her friend's life.

"Wait! Take me instead." She asked, her final offer, and the last chance to save Clint's life.

"You?" Loki half growled, than paused before the realization of what she was offering occurred to him. "You would, take his place?" he asked hope filling his voice.

"If I did, would you let him go?" she asked, hoping the answer was 'yes'.

"Yes. But you would have to promise to stay here forever." He answered quickly, letting the meaning of his words sink in. She still hadn't laid eyes on Clint's kidnapper.

"Come into the light." She asked, gently almost in a soothing way. Loki's only response was to fulfill her wish by stepping into the small light that came from the holes in the ceiling. His 6'2 height, blue skin, red eyes, and ice cold look finally revealed to Betsy. Her eyes widening in realization of what she had just signed up for.

As she stepped in front of him, revealing her beauty to the demi-god. "You have my word." She promised.

"Done!" Loki snapped, walking forward to release the dying mortal. He dragged Clint out of the tower and towards the rainbow bridge, as Betsy fell to her knees and whispered a silent prayer for Clint's health to return. As Loki arrived back into the tower, he saw the beautiful assassin looking out the window towards the rainbow bridge, which Loki, only moments before, had handed the sniper over to Heimdall to return him home.

"You didn't even let me say 'goodbye', I might never see him again and I didn't even get a chance to say 'goodbye'." She half whispered to herself and half accused him of. Loki's hearth ached at the knowledge that she might never see her friend again, but refused to let that stop him.

"I'll show you to your quarters." He barked towards the depressed agent.

"My quarters?" she asked, half confused. The change in Asgard was beginning to affect her too.

"Do you want to stay in the tower?" he snapped at her, unintentionally she winced at the sound of his voice.

"No…" she spoke quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Than follow me." Loki commanded as he lit a torch and began to walk down the spiral stairs that lead down from the tower. Betsy stood up slowly her head spinning and the room suddenly becoming a blur. She steadied herself before following the Frost Giant. She knew only of Loki being half Frost Giant, and their last encounter he appeared to be human, she didn't know what had happened between the time of his attack on New York and now, the short two weeks barely enough time to repair the damages he left in his wake, but she guessed something big had happened. She didn't know what had prompted her to beg, and than volunteer to stay with the angered Asgardian but she knew if it'd save Clint's life, it'd be worth it in the end.

As she followed the 6'2 demi-god down different corridors in the castle she noticed all the dark themes, the gargoyles, the fierce looking dragons, the different phoenixes that lined the walls as the only decorations to the dark hallway. She was already not in her right mind, and the figures and different statues and pictures scared her more than usual, and she quickly ran up behind Loki, almost stepping on his heels. Loki noticed her sudden change in demeanor and guessed she regretted her decision to stay, but Loki refused to feel sorry for the Midgardian. As he opened her double door room, he finally spoke to her again, in a softer tone than before.

"The palace is your home now, I hope you like it here. My servants will attend to you and if you need anything just ask them. You are free to travel anywhere you like in the palace, as long as you stay out of my quarters. Now I hope you like your new quarters, good night, Agent Buckingham." He stated in a soothing voice as to not alarm the already shaken up agent. She nodded her head as her only response and thanks, and Loki shut the door behind her after she stepped inside.

The room was completely furnished. The colors on the walls were black and gold with hints of blue around the room. There was a large door that lead into a walk-in closet to her left, a large spacious bathroom next to the closet, and a large double door that lead out to an open balcony in front of the main door. A large queen-size bed occupied the right wall, two nightstands on either side with two lamps on each, along with a small stack of books on the one to the far side. She also had a lovely desk across the bed, and a tall full-body mirror in the far left corner. She also noticed the vanity inside the spacious bathroom, and the large Jacuzzi tub. There was also a variety of selection of clothes inside the large closet ranging from Asgardian attire, to a warrior's armor, and some modern Midgardian attire as well. She also found, to her surprise, an iPod Nano, with a speaker system sitting on her desk. The iPod was blue, her favorite color, and held her entire music playlist from her iPod back on Earth. She wondered if Loki knew she was coming or if he knew she would willingly volunteer to live in Asgard, as long as Clint survived. Thor must've told Loki her favorite colors, and her favorite genres in music, since everything fit her style and taste to a T. As she opened the doors to the balcony and walked outside, meeting the cold Asgardian air, a light snow began to fall. It was already winter back in New York, and she wondered if Asgardian and Midgardian seasons were at all similar. She shivered slightly, she wasn't prepared for the chill, she was only wearing blue skinny jeans, and black combat boots, a white tank top, with her favorite black leather jacket over it. Her hair was tied back in a short ponytail and her favorite and only necklace from her childhood. It was a silver necklace, 18" long with a snowflake on it. It was the only thing she recalled from her twisted and much clouded childhood and it reminded her of winter, her favorite season besides fall. She walked back inside her room and saw a beautiful woman standing before her. She was dressed in a gold dress, had blonde hair, and wore a gold crown on her head. She was beautiful and her flawless skin made her look younger than she really was. Betsy guessed it was Queen Frigga; Thor had often talked about his mother and her beauty. She was proven right when the woman introduced herself.

"Hello deary, I'm Queen Frigga, Loki told me about our new visitor and I wished to welcome you to Asgard and our fair home. I hope you find yourself comfortable with your quarters, if there's anything I can do, please tell me." She spoke softly to the agent, almost like she was speaking to a young girl. Betsy wasn't fooled by her gentleness. She knew Frigga often worried for Loki, and she would do anything to see her adopted son to be happy. She, besides Thor, only wanted what was best for Loki. Odin often ignored his younger son in hopes of training Thor to become king, or protecting his kingdom. Betsy never thought she felt sorry for Loki until Thor told her about the time Odin had neglected Loki in favor of preparing some of his warriors for their coronation. Loki hadn't attended.

"Thank you, your highness. Everything's wonderful here." Betsy plastered on a fake smile and let her eyes glow with happiness. She wouldn't trouble the queen with her issues with her captor, but she hoped the queen would learn, so she could be set free.

"Alright than, goodnight dear." Frigga spoke softly, nodding her head towards the shorter woman before closing the door behind her after he departure. Betsy let out a deep sigh; she quickly kicked off her boots, socks, and jacket and climbed into bed with her clothes on. It was going to be a long 'forever'.

**Ok so first fanfic, just wanted to say this is totally based off of "Beauty and the Beast" since I think Loki would make a great beast! I chose his Frost Giant form since it's not entirely ugly (at least to me) but to some it could be. The girl is named Elizabeth Mandalay Buckingham (Betsy for short) and is entire my own character. She's taken the place of the Black Widow and her superhero name is King Cobra (Cobra for short sometimes and often used as a nickname). The thing is Loki watches her after he's returned to Asgard from destroying NYC and she don't know it. But she will in time. Also this is POST-Avengers and I might mention some Clint/Maria pairing since I think they're adorable together (even though a lot of people like Clint/Natasha I don't. It's too stereotypical and too expectant). Also I might make this sort of a AU since I don't think Loki would attempt to kidnap Clint again in hopes of turning him into his slave again, but you never know. I might make Peggy (Captain America) return because I want Steve to have a girlfriend and I might make Bruce a lesser character since he doesn't really have a HUGE role in this fiction. Please not Thor acts like a brother to her and Tony like a father-sorta in the sense he wants to protect her from everything even if she had a father at one time. BTW I will reveal her origins and her family later in the story or maybe in a sequel if it's a popular fanfic. All well this is my first fanfic so be nice thanks! R&R! **


	2. Chapter 2

As the sun rose the next morning in Asgard, Agent Buckingham woke to the sound of birds chirping. Although it was winter, the birds never migrated far from the palace of Asgard; the temperatures inside the bird sanctuary made it ideal climates for the birds. As Betsy rose out of bed, took a quick bath, and began looking through the extensive closet that Loki has given her. She finds a suitable dress to wear, noting that other than dresses were the warrior's armor, which appeared to be too big for her. She dressed in a simple light blue dress with puffy long sleeves, and a dark blue belt that reached the bottom of the dress, which touched the floor. It was fitted to show off her curves and it flared slightly at the bottom. It had a sweetheart neckline, and it revealed her necklace beautifully. She undid her wet hair, and repined it into a messy bun. Satisfied with her look for the day, she slipped outside her room barefoot, soundlessly making her way down the large hallways.

Her headache from the previous night had gone away, and she felt much more energized than she imagined. As she walks soundlessly down the hallways, realized she was completely alone in the large castle. She walked in to the kitchen, shocked to find no servants inside. She simply figures it must be their day off and searches the cabinets to find something to satisfy her hunger. As she continues to go through every cabinet finding no food to satisfy her hunger, frustrated she gives up, Loki did say his servants would attend to her every need, so she figured she ask them once she found one. As she begins to leave the kitchen she makes her way down another large hall, this one decorated less dark than the hall she lives off of. There are rows of knight armor with swords, spears, or other weapons she doesn't recognize. They all look well kept and appear to be from the middle ages of Earth's time.

As she continues her walk she finds herself in an open room. There's a large staircase to her right, another large foyer to her left, and the same hall to her front. It appears that she's in a junction part of the castle, and figures she'll try to return to her room. As she makes her way up the massive staircase, she finds that it's decorated with the same dark themes as the hallway she lives off. She assumes it's the same, or at least she's close, so she continues to explore. She opens a double door, she assumes to be her room, walks inside and instead finds a study.

It has two walls full of books, a massive green chair, a large fireplace with the fire going, and a desk off to the right. The large windows in the room are covered by dark green drapes, and the entire room is decorated with green, black, and gold decorum. As she looks through the books on the wall, she finds one that is most interesting. It's a book on Leonardo da Vinci and about his famous clay horse. The text is in English so she has no problem in reading the book. She sits herself down in the plush green chair, and evidentially is seated across the arms, with the back of her head towards the fireplace, letting the light illuminate the pages.

Slowly she falls asleep, having walked a long ways through the palace without realizing it. Soon she's sound asleep with the book open in her lap. She's a deep enough sleeper that she doesn't hear the door open, or the soundless steps of the Loki entering his study, right off his room. He quickly feels the presence of someone else in the room, and notices the sleeping agent in his large green chair with the book opened in her lap. She appears to be asleep, with her face relaxed and her face slightly darkened by the fire behind her. She shows no emotion and Loki draws the conclusions he truly is asleep, vulnerable for an attack that she doesn't feel will happen. Loki has half a mind to scare her awake and warn her to never return to his room, but he notices she's slightly whimpering in her sleep, and the slight crinkle of her face as she dreams. He realizes she's having a nightmare and wishes not to scare her more. He already knows his Jotunheim form will scare her enough; after all he does need her to fall in love with him.

In a rare act of kindness, he removes the book on her lap, making sure to leave it open to the page she was reading, and he gently lifts her up bridal style in his arms, with her head leaning against his shoulder. She's light to his alien strength, and he has no trouble carrying her back to her room, just a few more corridors down. He kicks open her room door and walks her over to her bed. He notices she's beginning to stir, and wonders if she'll be frighten to wake up in his arms. He gently lays her down on the queen-sized bed and begins to walk away, when he feels her grip on his sleeves. She's still asleep and he notices her face is scrunched up more than usually revealing more emotion than she would intentional show. Her grip is strong on his sleeves, and he has no choice but to lie down next to the sleeping agent and pull her close to his body, whispering sweet things into her sleeping ear.

Slowly her grip loosens, and her body relaxes, her face no long holding an edge to it, and her whimpering ceases. Slowly Loki removes himself from her hold and leaves the room, closing the door softly behind him. He returns a few moments later with the book she was reading, a glass of water, and a well-made meal for the hungry assassin. He noticed her stomach rumbling while he was carrying her and figured she had no luck in finding a meal. The chiefs and the servants were out cleaning the grand dinning room, ballroom, and making necessary house cleaning tasks for the new resident of the palace.

Has he enters her room for a second time that day, he notices she shivering in her sleep, yet she still hasn't woken up. He gently lays the book, and the tray of food and water down on her nightstand. He loosens the cape around his shoulders and drapes it over her as a blanket. He smiles inside as her shivering ceases and her lips curl upwards in her sleep. He gently kisses her forehead and leaves the room before she wakens to the small gesture he's just preformed.

As Betsy finally wakes up, exhaustion, and unfamiliar change to the atmosphere finally getting the better of her, she realizes she's no longer in the dark study she had fallen asleep in. She's back in her room, and the sun's still shinning bright, indicating it's only early afternoon. She looks around the room to find herself wrapped up in a deep green cape she recognizes as Loki's and she spies the tray of food and water, and the book of Leonardo da Vinci. She inwardly smiles at the small gestures that Loki has preformed to make her feel more at home. She quickly devours the food he's left, and gulps the water down in one swig.

She's reenergized now, but the feeling of acclamation still hasn't fully grown on her yet. It'll be awhile before she's used to Asgard's atmosphere. She once again leaves her bedroom, with Loki's cape now wrapped around her shoulders. She's still barefoot, and the carpet that lines the hallways feels good on her feet. As she continues down the hallways she spies Loki outside talking with his father and Thor. She wants to run outside and explain the mishap with Thor but thinks twice about it, she is after all the guest and Loki has been nothing but hospitable to her, so far.

So instead she walks down the hallway until she's once again at the kitchen, this time it's bustling with cooks, servants, and other staff members. They all stop to look at her, there's also a man, dressed in fine garments wearing an old fashion ticking clock and ordering people around. He appears to be something out of a movie; his well-combed hair and slick mustache make him almost comically. He's shorter than the staff, but taller than her, with a large potbelly.

"Excuse me miss, is there something I can help you with?" the potbelly man asks.

"I'm sorry, I was just looking for something to eat. I'm still kind of hungry." Although she's learned as a spy not to overeat, her stomach is still craving food having missed both breakfast and lunch.

"Did she say she's hungry?" Asked an older woman with white hair, wearing a white apron over her purple dress. She was also round, and appeared to be out of an animated movie, her voice was soft, and she appeared to be brewing something in a large pot. "Hello dear, I'm Miss Fiona, how can I help you?" the elderly woman asks.

"Hi, I'm Betsy. I'm sorry to intrude but I was just looking for something more to eat." Betsy sheepishly replies. She feels out of sorts with the much taller Asgardians.

"Come now dear, its not dinner time yet, the family's already eaten and we've just about done cleaning up-" the potbelly man, who's name she learns turns out to be Martin, starts to ramble before another man cuts him off.

The other man is tall, skinny, with light brown hair and a thinner mustache than Martin. She quickly learns the skinnier man is named, Alfred. He's one of the more rebellious servants working for Loki, and he appears to be a womanizer with the way he flirts with the maidens of the kitchen. But Betsy soon finds him to be quit the gentleman when he wants to be.

"Come on Martin, we can't have her starve? Right this way Ma'am." Alfred quickly cuts off Martin and opens the door to the large dinning room. He quickly pulls out the head chair, and gives her a napkin. "Welcome Mademoiselle, to our fair castle. Let me introduce myself properly. I am Alfred, that's Miss Fiona and that old grumpy pot is Martin. We are Loki's three main servants, I am his butler, Fiona his hand maiden, and Martin his trusted caretaker." Alfred started. "Your food will be right out." He quickly added a dashing smile and bowed politely in her presence. Betsy just blushed, nodded her head and thanked the kind servant.

Suddenly a small boy ran out from the kitchen.

"Hi I'm Gus, what's your name?" the small child asked. His front tooth was missing, he was short, and his sandy blonde hair, and freckled face made him appear like a stereotypical American kid. Betsy suddenly was reminded she would never see home again. She just smiled at the young boy, clearly now older than five.

"Hi Gus, I'm Betsy." She replied happily smiling for the boy, although if you'd look close enough, the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"Now Gus, what have we discussed, now barging into the dinning room unless you have something of importance." Snapped Fiona to the small child. He winced a little at her tone but still smiled nonetheless.

"Sorry mama. I know it won't happen again." He replied sheepishly and bowed respectfully to Betsy before returning to the kitchen.

"I'm sorry for my son, he's still learning the manners of a waiter." Fiona apologized to Betsy, pouring her a cup of water, and setting a salad before the agent.

"It's fine. He's a wonderful boy, you must be very proud." Betsy responded adding in a sweet voice to make sure the mother knew how lucky she was. Fiona nodded and returned to the kitchen without another word. Once her meal was finished Betsy again decided to walk around the palace once more, reminded by Martin to stay away from Loki's quarters. She merely rolled her eyes and continued on, walking down the same hallway she had earlier. She once again walked up the grand stair case, and this time instead of turning right like she did before to find her room, she turned left and was met by a single double door with a lion as its handles. She hesitated only for a moment before pulling the doors open and walking inside.

The room was dark, and trashed with broken furniture and items scattered throughout the room. There was an unmade bed with ripped sheets and many pictures that were torn as well. She noticed the balcony doors were open letting in the chilly freezing hair. She also saw the only thing lighting the room was the glowing blue Tesseract. Its color was the same as before, but this time it was in a different form. Instead of the cube she was used to looking at, it resembled a rose this time. It had eleven pedals on the flower, and one pedal lay on the table. It was covered by a glass case that let the natural light illuminate the room.

Betsy soundlessly walked towards the table, admiring the beauty of the Tesseract. She gently lifted the case away from the Tesseract, wanting a better look at the object that had brought on so many deaths. She studied it, awed by its intense light. Slowly she lifted her hand to touch the deadly object when out of nowhere the form of Loki appeared in the shadows. She bit back a scream when he jumped beside her and covered the blue rose back up with the glass case. He growled and stared at her intensely with killer read eyes that could pierce through her soul.

"What are you doing here?" he snapped at her, not showing any kindness like earlier.

"I'm sorry. I was just looking for my room. I didn't mean any harm!" she started but was interrupted by his temper.

"Do you have any idea what you could've done?" he yelled at the frightened killer. She was used to angry, irrational men but never did she think she'd have to deal with a angry, irrational, demi-god.

"Loki I'm sorry, I meant no harm!" she tried again only to once again be interrupted by his temper.

"Get out. Get out!" he shouted towards her. Frightened by what he might do, she quickly ran from the room, back through the hallway and down the staircase she had recently just climbed. She quickly ran through the nearest exit she could find and out of the palace bound for the rainbow bridge. She passed Miss Fiona, Martin, and Alfred on her way out and yelled back towards them.

"Promise or no promise, I can't stay here another minute!" she yelled and slammed the door shut behind her. She ran all the way to the rainbow bridge and towards Heimdall's figure.

"Can I help you me lady?" Heimdall asked in her deep voice. She shook her head in response.

"Please Heimdall, I need to get out of here!" she cried, turning around to see Loki's figure running out of the palace, his long legs running twice as fast as hers.

"I'm sorry me lady I cannot." Heimdall spoke, almost reading her mind.

"Never mind I'll do it myself!" she yelled before running towards the sword that was the key to her freedom, using all her strength to turn it and open the Bifrost. Without hesitation or thinking of which world she'd land it, she hurled herself in it. The last thing she heard was Loki yelling.

**All right this is chapter 2. I may not be able to update as often but I might as well get as much down as possible. As you can see a lot of inspiration from Beauty and the Beast, but it will soon drift off from that into a story of its own! Thanks to all those who read and review. **


	3. Chapter 3

As her feet landed firmly on the ground, and her vision cleared, she quickly realized she wasn't on Earth. She had landed on a frozen planet, with large rocks and boulders surrounding her, there was snow and ice everywhere and the temperature around her quickly dropped. She quickly began to shiver. As she started to walk away from the cliff she was currently standing near, she saw and heard the voices of men, suddenly there was an entire mob of them, rushing towards her from many directions. They were tall, taller than Loki or Thor, and they had dark ice blue skin with ridges engraved into their flesh. Blood red eyes, and a menacing growl, they all resembled Loki. Especially the large one that came towards her, he was taller than the rest, he shared similar markings with Loki, and his face revealed his old age. The wrinkles mixed with the markings on his skin were indicators that he was a well trained, and well-seasoned warrior with probably alien strength to back him up.

Betsy was trapped near the cliff, there was only about five of them plus the old man, and they all carried different alien looking weapons. No doubt they could easily kill her now, yet they didn't. Instead they looked at her with their scarlet eyes and she noticed that they were staring at someplace behind her. She turned her head around, not willing to show them her back quit yet, and gasped when she saw Loki standing where she once stood, with his full Asgardian armor, and his glow stick of death. Betsy refused to feel relieved that Loki had followed her, but didn't hide her shock at the fact that he was prepared for battle.

Instead of peacefully discussing matters, the five Jotunheims leaped into the air, all five landed near year, with their weapons drawn. Although she had no weapons, she silently kicked herself for not bringing any when she went searching for Clint, she knew she was out manned, out gunned, and sadly out numbered. Instead of throwing in the towel like most wise soldiers, she took her predatory stance and roundhouse kicked the nearest guard and sent him back towards Laufey. The other guards quickly ascended on her, but before she could fight back, a fifth body joined the skirmish. It wasn't the body of the guard she had just wounded; it was the body of Loki, standing between her and the four-armed Jotunheims. He quickly stabbed the nearest one in the chest, letting him fall down dead, and hit two more with the staff he possessed. It wasn't the same one he used to attack Earth, that staff was safely locked up in the armory of Asgard, Betsy was told by Thor, this one appeared to be taller, and more deadly, if that was possible.

As Loki lashed out at the remaining guard letting the four guards in total fall down dead or seriously wounded. Although the soldiers were able to lash out at Loki and hit him pretty good a couple of times, they still fell. Betsy had never seen Loki in combat before, and was mildly impressed at how he handled himself. True he never truly used physical strength, but he did show impressive knowledge in their style of combat.

Laufey, still standing there unmoving even after his son killed four of his guards, just nodded his heads towards Loki and the assassin, turned on his heels, walking briskly back towards the mountain that resembled a castle.

Betsy was still breathing hard, the cold air making its way into her body. She wouldn't last long, she'd freeze to death sooner-or-later and she still hadn't addressed wounds, on Loki. He had been slashed pretty good by one of the guards, it was a cut on his right arm, his armor had protected him, but the ice sword was still able to wound him drawing blood. Suddenly he fell down, in a heap in front of her. She didn't know how to get back to Earth or Asgard, and didn't want other Jotunheims to see her only source of protection down, she quickly dragged him back towards the cliff where she first stood, and was about to yell for help when suddenly she, Loki, and his staff was lifted away by the magic of the Bifrost. When they reappeared again, she was on her knees next to a passed out Loki, and in front of Heimdall, still unblinking and looking at her with a vague expression. He didn't ask, and she wouldn't tell what happened in Jotunheim, she guessed he already knew.

Once back inside the Palace, Betsy took Loki into the large lush living room. It had a large fireplace, already burning bright, a large chair, and some different Asgardian accessories. Betsy laid Loki in the chair, and sent Fiona to fetch some hot water, bandages, or anything that could treat an injury. Loki had woken up by the time Fiona returned. Betsy had placed a rag into the boiling water, and was ringing it out when Loki growled at her. She was use to be treated coldly by the spoiled prince, but she ignored it this time because he had saved her life. Loki began to rub and scratch his wound, causing more blood to surface.

"Here, don't do that. It'll only get infected!" Betsy tried to speak gently, although she herself was still cold, she would first attend to Loki than herself. "Here let me." She gently laid the rag on his wounded arm, and Loki instantly roared with pain. Pulling her arm away, Loki retracted his too.

"That hurt!" he yelled at her, his already red eyes shinning bright than before.

"It wouldn't hurt so much if you'd hold still!" she shouted back. His face mere inches from her, she could feel his cold breath brush against her skin. She held his gaze and gave him one of her fiercest stares. Loki didn't back down, but he did reluctantly give back his arm to her. She gently laid the rag down; noticing him bit is lip in pain. She noticed a few pieces of ice stuck in the wound, and carefully absorbed it into the rag.

"This is all your fault! If you hadn't gone snooping around, this would have never happened!" Loki accused after a few moment of precious silence.

"You said the palace was my home now, and I was free to look around as I pleased! I will not apologize for that!" she snapped back, still treating his wound gently, though her voice held some edge.

"If you had stayed out of my room, I wouldn't be in this situation!" he tried again to start a fight. Betsy was used to criminals who wanted nothing more than to spare with words, and she wouldn't give him the entire satisfaction of getting under her skin.

"If you just learned to control your temper maybe I wouldn't have tried to leave!" she said in a cold voice, but her anger was slowing lessening. "By the way, thank you for saving my life." She added softly, still removing some of the blood on his arm, and moving on to wrap his arm up in a warm bandage.

Loki just looked down at her in disbelief. He couldn't help but notice she was taking her time on his wound, and was being unbelievably gentle with it. He sighed, releasing a deep breath that grazed her face. He notices her inhale his scent, and decided to go ahead and say it. "You're welcome. It was my pleasure." He added with a smirk decorating his lips. He noticed she only briefly acknowledge the smirk, but she smiled nonetheless about his half-hearted attempt to get along.

Once she was finished, she had Fiona clean up the supplies, while she stood ready to go to bed. That's when Loki grabbed her by her arm and turned her around while he stood up. She looked down where his eyes were looking and noticed that she had many cuts, slashes, and bruises from where she attempted to fight Laufey's guards. It was on her right knuckle, and had already began to turn purple, the dried blood evident that it was her own. The cuts wouldn't have been serious, but her hand was still cold from the freezing temperatures of Jotunheim, her Midgardian body couldn't warm up still.

"You're freezing. And your hand could be infected." Loki stated the obvious as he continued to examine her hand and wrist.

"It's fine, I've received worse." She replied, not taking her eyes off his face. His face was in a mixed look of sympathy and growing rage.

"Who did this to you?" he asked, now looking at her face.

"It was nothing. I tried to fight the guards before you came, I was only able to send one flying with a roundhouse kick, after I tried to punch him in the face. That would be the result." She nodded her head towards her knuckle.

"Here, let me." He said as pushed her back into the chair where he had been sitting. He gently called Fiona to return with some hot water, and some bandages, which she gladly did in a hurry, and left just as fast.

He began to wet the rag she had brought, and like Betsy did earlier, gently began to wipe away the dried blood and the cuts that lined her knuckle. It stung a lot but Betsy was used to more, after all the time she had a knife fight with an entire gang on a mission in Russia hurt a lot more than this. She was just glad Loki was being gentle, her hand was still cold and she could hardly move her fingers individually. She would have gotten frostbit if she stayed in Jotunheim any longer than she had. Loki must've been aware of that became he gently breathed on her hand than began to rub it between his, bringing back circulation and warming it up.

"You know, most mortals wouldn't have survived in Jotunheim as long as you had." He stated, while he began to wrap her knuckle up with the warm bandage, let his hand linger there longer than necessary. Betsy quietly inhaled sharply and exhaled loudly, letting him take his time on her injury.

"Well I'm not most mortals." She said, smiling at the chuckle she received from Loki's lips.

"I figured that out early." Loki smiled up at her, from his kneeling position in front of her. She hadn't realized she was shaking until Loki lifted her up in his arms, bridal style again, and began walking towards her room.

"Loki what are you doing?" she asked, slowly and softly trying to hide the shakiness in her voice.

"My dear, it appears you are shaking and I am simply making sure that you will receive warmth and sleep. After all, you are in my care." He said smirking at her confusion as he kicked open her door again. This time he pulled back the covers and placed her beneath the warm sheets and blankets, pulling them up to her chin as she nestled down inside.

"Thank you." She murmured before closing her eyes and beginning to fall asleep. Loki hadn't realized she was still wearing his cape, but he noticed her snuggle more into the cape than before, inhaling his masculine scent along with it. He smiled inside warmly; perhaps there was something there after all.

The next morning, Betsy had decided to take a stroll out in the gardens and fields that surrounded the castle. It was snowing on Asgard, but not nearly as cold as Jotunheim. She was wearing a pink dress with quarter length sleeves, it touched the ground, and she wear light Asgardian snowshoes on her feet. She wore Loki's green cape around her shoulders, and her short hair was pulled back away from her face with a matching pink bow. Loki had never seen her dressed like that before, he'd only ever seen her skintight clothes with dark colors, never anything so sweet and innocent looking.

He was watching her from the balcony, holding his bandaged arm. She had down a good job fixing him up, and he noticed her holding her bandaged hand. The bandage made her hand look like it was wrapped up like a boxer's wrap.

"I want to do something nice for her, but I don't know what." Loki said to Martin and Alfred, both watching him, watch her. They noticed she was petting the horses that were grazing the pastures nearest the palace, and she took a fancy to the black one with a white stripe on his face. It was Loki's horse, but she didn't know that, the horse had a green blanket covering his back, and he was tall, and strong looking. He appeared to be taking a fancy to her as well, as he licked her hand when she held up some sugar cubes for him.

"Well, you could always give her a present, or make her a fancy dinner, take her to one of those Midgardian movie shows, or perhaps she'd like to see the stables?" Martin asked, not at all an expert on relationships or love, after all he was well into his age and yet still unmarried and every relationship he did have failed. Alfred on the other hand, was a well-known Casanova to the palace staff, he liked to woe women into his bed, and than often times have them transferred to a different part of the enormous palace.

"No no no! He need something more romantic than that!" he yelled at Martin. He began thinking of all the possibilities that would be romantic enough for woe the assassin. "I know, does she enjoy reading? You do have that massive library that you never use. Perhaps you should give her that?" he asked, looking hopefully into his master's eyes.

"That's perfect! I did catch her reading in my study once." Loki replied, radiating with hope he raced inside and down the stairs, reaching her in record timing. Alfred and Martin watched as he talked with her, than grabbed her unbandaged hand and ran with her back inside towards the large library.

The library was located just off the hall where the prince and the assassin slept, it was massive, a gift from Frigga to her youngest son when he displayed no interest in fighting. He had spent countless hours in there as a boy, but since his fall from Asgard, than attempt at overtaking Earth failed, he refused to step foot in it. It was massive; it put the Library of Congress to shame. It held every book in existence. It had large windows that illuminated the room, but currently the green drapes covered them, making it pitch black inside. There were also two large fireplaces in the large three-story room. It had three floors full of books, a lounge for reading, an area with a large desk for writing, and a large plush couch and matching chair set in front of the first floor main reading area. It was decorated in Loki's signature colors of green, black, and gold. It was absolutely breathtaking.

Once Loki had managed to half drag, half carry the 5'3 spy to the library she was out of breath, although he had carried her up the grand staircase, because of his longer legs and stamina she hadn't been able to keep up.

"Here, close your eyes." He asked, smiling and silently praying she'd obey. She gave him a confused look but obeyed. He opened the double doors and led her inside.

"Can I open my eyes now?" she asked, sensing she had entered complete darkness.

"Don't you dare." He said. Suddenly she heard the sound of drapes being pulled back and light filling the room.

"Now can I open them." She asked, pretending to be impatient. She guessed he rolled his eyes.

"Ok, now open them!" he commanded, sounding like a child just showing his friends the new toy he got at Christmas. When she opened her eyes she hadn't expected to see a library. Although she wasn't sure what she was expecting, this was the greatest surprise of all. "Do you like it?" he asked, his face revealing worry for the first time since she met the demi-god.

"Yes! I absolutely love it!" she cried circling around him admiring the room.

"Than it's yours!" he said, giving her the warmest smile she ever seen.

"What?" she asked, confused at his sudden gift. "Why?" she asked. She always needed a reason for something, especially if it was a gift like this.

"Because, I want you to be happy here." He said. Looking her straight in the eye, not faltering for a second. She thought she heard that slightest hint of doubt in his voice, but she wouldn't betray his new found trust in her.

"Well I'm overjoyed!" she said. Unexpectedly wrapping her arms around his neck, and standing on her tiptoes, kissed his cool cheek, which brought a blush to both of their faces. She still didn't release her arms from around his neck, when she felt his hands rest on her hips. He lowered his head, making it easier on her, and kissed her lips softly. She resisted the urge to moan, and instead kissed back, equally soft and curious. Slowly they released each other, and she was breathing heavily, while he seemed to hold her up.

Suddenly she pulled away and blushed like a schoolgirl.

"I'll leave you alone than, I must speak to my father and Thor. Excess me." He said, still blushing as well from their brief in counter. He kissed her hand, and bowed his head respectfully to the SHIELD agent before leaving her.

She was dazed to say the least; she always knew she found the demi-god attractive, even now in his blue Jotunheim form. She hadn't realized the extent of her feelings for him until he had given her the spontaneous gift. She gently touched her lips where his had been just moments before, and smiled to herself. When did she start falling in love? He after all was a monster, who had destroyed half of New York City and killed countless lives. But she also knew what she had done; she had destroyed more lives than him, and wrecked a lot of worlds too. She was probably more of the monster then him, yet she still couldn't help but wonder, why her? Why had he picked the heartless killer to become his? She knew he had kidnapped Clint, but let him tell her that lie, the day she arrived. She knew he'd never confess to his plan of trying to bring Clint back into his control. She knew Loki was a complex person, and that probably he'd just shut her out if she tried to talk to him, but she was still curious at the mystery that was her new protector. So she began to walk around her new library and picked up the Shakespeare book of "Romeo and Juliet", how appropriate. She sat down on the large chair and began to read. She let her mind wander back to Loki, his handsome face with sharp features, his once green/blue eyes now a blood red, his once alabaster skin now blue with markings that made him even more attractive than before. His dark black hair, the way he smirked whenever she was near him. She always had a thing for tall men with dark hair and light eyes, now she had one, although his monster form was the only thing she's seen as of lately, she wondered if she'd ever see the handsome man underneath, the human that he was, and the heart he still possessed although many thought otherwise.

**So this is chapter 3. Hope yall enjoy it! I know its kinda choppy, like I said first fanfic, and I'm just yall are probably curious as to why I'm making Loki appear soft. In my opinion I think he really is a softy, he isn't a heartless killer and probably never was. He was just an ego manic who felt betrayed by his family after being lied to for so many years, and that probably what prompted him to rebel against his father/mother/brother/family. All well I hope yall like their little moment. More to come! I'll get in more on her past, and why she hasn't seen Thor or Odin since she arrived. Btw Frigga hopefully will appear again and Thor will make an appearance. Not to mention Clint's statues and the rest of the Avengers! Far from over! R&R!**


	4. Chapter 4

It had been an uneventful week. She had finished "Romeo and Juliet" in a matter of hours, and had finished "Hamlet", "Tale of Two Cities", and "Moby Dick" in the seven day span since she received the library. Although she hadn't seen Loki since their last encounter of the kiss, she was already anxious to find him and discuss with him the reasons behind his actions. She dressed in a black and green dress that resembled Loki's armor, but was made from leather and silk as opposed to leather and gold. It was snug fitting at her waist, and spread out a little. It only reached below her knees, and it was a turtleneck that had a triangle cut out in the center, revealing a modest amount of cleavage. She wore Loki's cape that he had place on her the first time around her shoulders, and let the soft green material hang off her bare shoulders. She found him in the gardens, examining and taking notes on some of the beautiful flowers that grew there. Many servants had told her that Queen Frigga had planted the flowers there when she first married Odin, and that she personally attended to every single one. Quietly she managed to get ten feet away from Loki before he acknowledged her presence.

"What can I help you with my dear?" he asked, not looking up from his paper where he was scribbling down some notes and sketches of the various flowers.

"I wanted to ask you about last week." She spoke quieter than she intended to. She hadn't realized she had been flustered until Loki turned to face her, revealing his smirking face to her. "I wanted to talk to you." She continued refusing to meet his eyes, instead focusing on a particular pink rose, it resembled that of a Spanish rose back on Earth, and Betsy couldn't help but stare at it with her intense brown eyes.

"Do you like it?" Loki asked, noticing her face scrunch up when she had spotted the flower. It was personally one of Loki's favorite, besides some of the green flowers that grew within the garden's walls. "It's a 'blomst av kjærlighet', it means 'flower of love'." Loki said, still watching the SHIELD agent admire the flower's pedals and unique design.

"It looks like a Spanish Rose, from back home." Betsy noted, watching the flower in the sunlight. She smiled inwardly at herself remembering the time Dom had took her to Spain with Mia. They had stayed out on the streets with other racers, and for a gift, Dom had given her a Spanish Rose for her birthday. That was nearly thirteen years ago, during her fifteenth birthday.

"Is there something on your mind my dear?" Loki asked, stepping closer to his much shorter companion.

"Nothing, it just when I was younger, I received a Spanish Rose for my birthday. I thought it was the prettiest flower I'd ever seen." She replied, pushing back the tears that threatened to show. It didn't go unnoticed by the god of mischief who had been carefully examining her since her arrival.

"You'll have to tell me the story about it sometime." Loki said softly, watching her eyes go distant as her memories filled her.

"I will. Someday I will." She replied, almost like quoting someone else's words. Loki just nodded and continued walking towards the next row of flowers growing.

"Would you like to help me?" he asked, watching her comeback from her thoughts.

"Um, sure. Why not? What are you doing?" she asked, stepping closer to him, more than necessary lighting brushing shoulders against his arms.

"I'm just taking notes on all the flowers and sketching them. I'm performing trying to create a new fragrance for the queen for her birthday. I just am taking notes on the various flowers before I try mixing them. I've been through most of the garden but I still have these last few rows." He said, gesturing towards the final three rows. The first row appeared to be Tulips but Betsy wouldn't bet the farm on it, the second appeared to be Daisy's and the final one resembled that of a Magnolia.

"Ok, so do you want to take notes and I'll sketch them?" She asked, holding out her hand for the sketchbook and pencil Loki held in his arms.

"If you like." He replied, giving her a warm smile.

She easily set into sketching the remaining three flowers with precision and grace. Loki noted that the sketches were almost replicas of the actual flower, he assumed she must have an artists' eye, because she didn't miss a single detail on the flowers. He noticed she also like to focus a long time before she'd start sketching the flower, and how her face would take on a look of concentration and seriousness as she sketched. She looked even more beautiful sketching than he had ever seen her, if it were at all possible.

"Do you like sketching, Agent Buckingham?" He finally asked her, curious to know more about the woman, who was going to be living with him for a long time?

"I used to. When I was younger I would go out around the city and just sketch anything that I liked. Sometimes I even had graffiti to the walls of the city by the railroad tracks if I didn't get caught." She answered, still focused on her work.

"Where did you used to live?" he asked, trying to get her to open up.

Betsy didn't know why she had suddenly revealed that information about her childhood, she hadn't even told Clint what she was telling Loki now. Even though Clint was her closest friend she hadn't even told him of her love of drawing, music, or dancing. She hadn't told anyone, not even her new adopted parents.

"I was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, but I grew up all over the place. I was being trained with an underground program called, 'Pythonomorpha'; they were training American children to become spies, assassins, mercenaries, etc. I was born and abandoned as a child so I grew up in the foster system, part of their go to children were orphans, because they believed if they trained children who had no families, they'd remain loyal to the program. I was one of those 'chosen' to become a 'Cobra'. The 'Cobras' were the highest and most elite force within the Pythonomorpha; they're trained in all categories and are serviced to the highest bidden nation, organization, or gang that wants their services. Part of my training was in the fields of espionage, seduction, weaponry, stealth, agility, endurance, medical, and manipulation. That's part of the problems with the 'Cobras'; they're trained to be the best, top in their fields and some of the world's dangerous and most deadly killers or agents. Part of this problem is 'Cobras' often don't take lightly to orders, because we're trained to be the masters of any situation we're placed in, we often defy orders from the commanders and many times we're hunted down, though more times than not we kill our hunters." She released a large breath. The memories of the different stations she was force to live in, the things she was forced to do all came back to her.

She remembered a girl in her unit, who failed her task; she was attacked by some of the higher trained killers as practice and punishment for her failure. She didn't survive. It was a lesson to all their new recruits. Failure wasn't tolerated. After that incident Betsy never failed a mission, and quickly rose to being one of the best. That's why she's called the "King Cobra" because she's one of the best at what she does.

"That sounds terrible, I'm sorry I asked." Loki said, noticing she had stopped sketching and instead was looking towards the sky, where the stars were, and looked off towards the direction of the darkest parts of space. The part where he had fallen after Thor defeated him in his first attempt at taking control of Asgard. He didn't want her to fall into the abyss like he did, and suffer the same fate he had. "You don't have to tell me more if you don't want to. I'm sorry I pushed you." He said, preparing to walk away.

"No! It's fine. I need to tell someone this. I've been keeping it a secret for almost twenty-eight years." She said looking at him with pleading eyes. He immediately sat down at her side and watches her face change, back to the face of looking off into the distance.

"After I made my first kill, when I was three, I was placed in the 'Cobra' program. There I was forced to practice and train more and more on my special skills. That's where I learned to fight, hunt, and become the best at what I do. I never thought of the lives I was destroying or the many innocent people who got hurt in my wake. All I wanted was the thrill of the hunt, and the satisfaction in the kill. And that's what they gave me. They let me kill as much as I want without a second thought. But than I turned eight and the program was attacked by SHIELD. That's when I first appeared on their radar. I moved from my home at the time of Las Vegas, to Washington D.C. to keep an eye out on the president and to continue my training there. I was than adopted and given an alias of Mandalay Buckingham. I was than adopted by a military family who had one child of their own, but wanted another. General Rodney James, wife Alison James and their only daughter Kennedy James who was three years older than me. After the adoption I continued my training with the 'Cobra' program after school. The 'General' as I called him was gone a lot on deployments and his wife didn't really like me. Only Kennedy really talked to me if General wasn't home, but even then she liked her friends more than me. But she always liked to tell everyone I was her baby-sister like she had something to prove to them or something. Anyways it was the summer I turned fifteen and Kennedy was going away to college, so we went out as a family dinner thing with some of her friends and their families. Well we were driving back, and some drunk driver crashed into our car and totally flipped us. The drunk driver was killed, but so was everyone in our car, except me." She stopped, tears suddenly filling her eyes.

"I had a concussion and I lost some of my memories of the 'Cobra' program and some with the James family, but my muscles still remembered everything from the training I received with the 'Cobras'. That was their intention, to train me so well that it was muscles memory as opposed to actual memory." She stopped again, wiped away a few tears and continued on, even though the memories hurt.

"I later learned that the Pythonomorphas had ordered the hit out on my parents because they didn't like how they treated me so nice. They were afraid I was going to go soft. They were right. I ended up killing the three agents that were sent to bring me back and after that the Pythonomorphas left me alone. Every time they tried to send an agent out to bring me back, I'd send them back a body bag." She stopped again, breathing in and out in short bursts. Loki placed a hand over hers in an attempt to calm her down. "After that they didn't bother with me anymore. Though I'm classified as a level 10 threat and a R.E.D. they don't bother me. They know what I'm trained for, and they know they completed my training in fifteen years instead of the usual seventeen. In the 'Cobra' program they try to train them fast and hard so they can start their careers and make money off of us faster and earlier. I was no exception. After that I kind of killed on my own, taking down targets who tried to hunt me and I made a name for myself. The 'Cobra' program never used the 'King Cobra' name for any other agents I'm the one and only 'King Cobra'. After SHIELD successfully shut down the Pythonomorphas program, they tried to hunt down every last of the 'Cobras' in the 'Cobra' program. You can guess how that went. Every SHIELD agent who tried died." She sighed again, now she was coming up to the more current events of her memories, some involved or included the god of mischief sitting next to her, still holding her hand and looking at her with worried and lust filled eyes.

"After SHIELD wasted enough agents' lives, they finally sent a sniper after me. Because I was number one on the Pythonomorphas' list for hits, they decided to send their best sniper after me. Clint Barton. As you can guess he tried to kill me, he was the first to almost succeed. But like my successors, it was hard to kill a Cobra, so instead I almost killed him, until he offered me a job, a chance to clean off my ledger and begin a new. He offered me the position I held at SHIELD when you first entered SHIELD's radar. I agreed. I was ready to try a different lifestyle, so he went to Fury and bargained on my behalf. Fury agreed I would be a powerful asset to the team, but he still doesn't trust me. So I began to work with SHIELD taking down criminals and hits that their agents couldn't. I was the best assassin they ever had. Although I have 'Top Secret' security clearance, Fury still doesn't trust me. I can't say I blame him though, I haven't exactly been the most trustworthy of people my entire career." She sighed and let out another deep breath. She now had begun to squeeze Loki's hand and could feel the coldness sink into her skin, rising goose bumps. Loki knew he was entering her life about now.

"Than I was chosen to become an Avenger, and protect the world from outside threats. Threats that a normal government agency couldn't contain. That's about the same time Thor fell from the sky and Coulson was assigned to survey the situation. That's when Thor was chosen to become an Avenger, and about the same time Steve Rogers was thawed. As you know, later on than you decided to come into our lives and try to dominate Earth or 'Midgard', as you call it. That rest of it is history." She finished. Finally resting her head on his shoulder and breathing in his masculine and unique scent.

"I am truly sorry for all the pain I've caused you." He replied, knowing he'd never truly be able to repair the damage he had caused. No matter how much he apologized or how many times she forgave him, Coulson would stay dead, and there was nothing that could be done. He knew that, Betsy knew that, Thor knew that, everyone knew that. Still it didn't stop him to, for the first time in a long time, feel regret.

"I know." Was all she could respond before a tear slid down her cheek. He easily wiped it away with his free hand, that wasn't holding hers and kissed her temple. She just looked at him with teary eyes. "You know what. I think there was a part of me that was glad that you came to Earth anyways. If you had never decided to try to take over Midgard, I would never have met you." She continued to look into his eyes. His red orbs reflecting pain, regret, unhappiness, lust and something she couldn't quit place. She couldn't help but find him still attractive even in his Jotunheim form.

"Would you grant me the honor of joining me for dinner?" he asked, slowly moving his free head to move aside a loose hair from her face.

"I'd love to." She answered slowly, afraid that she might ruin the moment. Her breathing had suddenly become shallow and it was hard to look at him in the eyes, with the way he was staring intently back at her. She saw him eye her lips, and she automatically licked them despite their already intense and close proximity. "Are you going to kiss me or not?" she finally asked, no longer being able to stand the way his heated gaze stared at her. He took the comment well and instantly fisted his hand in her hair, dragging her head up to meet his. She happily allowed him to become a little rougher with her, loving the way his eyes looked at the sound of her voice. Soon she was straddling his waist, and his hands were roaming over her entire body. She pulled back to breathe and to look up at his face. Although she was sitting on his lap, his head still was higher then hers, a fact she'd have to live with. He was wearing his famous smirk and his eyes held a glint of mischief along with desire. She stood up suddenly turning red and blushing like crazy. "Sorry. Um…I'll see you at dinner. Do I need to wear something fancy?" she asked, suddenly unsure why she was so flustered around him.

"Um…sure if you'd like." He said, letting her remove herself from his lap and now look down at him. "I'll see you then." He said, loving the way her tan face looked with the hues of scarlet mixed into her skin. She nodded and walked away, quickly to hid her ever-growing embarrassment and giddiness. All she really wanted was turn around and kiss him senseless, but her many years of training refused to let her do it. For almost thirteen years she had spent her life alone, on the run, now she suddenly had someone who cared for her, well at least he acted like it. She didn't know how to handle herself. If Clint ever saw her locking lips with the enemy she was sure he'd commit suicide. Clint. She hadn't thought about him since she first came to Asgard, summoned by Heimdall. He had simple told her that the one she sought was in the tower. Now she realized he was referring to Loki, not Clint. Although she wanted Clint, she had this hidden desire to see Loki again, making sure he was ok. She didn't know why she had suddenly felt something for the enemy other than hatred, but she had. Now she knew why. It was love. Heimdall knew it before she had, and he knew exactly how to get the feelings to rise to the surface. She had never loved, not in her entire life. Sure she had cared for the James family, but she didn't love them. She simply didn't want danger to come to them. Even now, she may want Clint to stay safe, but she doesn't love him anymore than he loves her. She always thought she was incapable of love, the Cobra program taught her to use other people's emotions against them, and love being the strongest emotion was the easiest to manipulate and turn against someone. Even the strongest willed people could easily be manipulated if love was part of the equation.

Once she entered her room, she quickly changed out of her black and green dress and into the yellow dress that was waiting for her, later she learned Queen Frigga herself chose it. It was yellow, with see-through sparkly sleeves that reached her elbows. It had a two inch thick straps that weren't see through, and a blue ribbon rapt around her skinny waist with a large bow in the back. It reached the floor, and she was given a pearl necklace to wear with it. She also wears yellow shoes with a small heel, and was given a gold tiara to wear on her head. Her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, letting her bangs hang loose, covering her the right part of her face. She had been given matching pearl earrings to wear in her two holes on each ear, and she kept a silver hop in her helix piercings. As she twirled in front of the mirror one final time, she herself had to admit she looked absolutely stunning. This was a new look for her; the dress resembled something that a Russian princess would wear, not an elite killer. She wore minimal makeup with only a light hint of blush on her tan cheeks, and some nude color lip-gloss. Her eyes shimmered with glitter eye shadow and a thin layer of black eyeliner. Queen Frigga stepped into the room once she was finished getting ready.

"You look absolutely stunning my dear." She said in her soft regal voice. She too had come to realize, like Heimdall, the love that was shared between her adopted son and this beautiful woman. She didn't know much about their guest, or how she came to stay with them, only that Odin had said not to interfere with her too much, Loki and her needed to sort out their difference themselves. So she had stood back and watch the beautiful woman open up sides of her son she hadn't seen for a longtime.

"Thank you, your highness." She responded facing the queen and all her beauty. Than Fiona entered, with Gus following close behind her.

"King Odin, Prince Loki, and Prince Thor are waiting in the dinning room, your highness." She said, addressing the queen but bowing her head towards the guest. Queen Frigga nodded her head in approval and acknowledgement and Fiona disappeared closing the door behind her, while Gus tried to get a second glimpse at the beautiful guest.

"Are you ready?" Queen Frigga asked.

**OK let me first start off with saying, THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL THOSE WHO FOLLOWED AND FAVORED THIS STORY! I didn't expect to get so much love from all you guys and I have to say thank you! It warmed my heart to see all the emails about followers and favorites! I'd like to say sorry if its still a little choppy, I'm trying to smooth it all out but I might have to make a sequel for that. I'm going to say sorry that this chapter is a little longer, I was trying to keep it about the same lengths as the others but this one got kinda lengthy and rambling but this next chapter will be a remake of a very famous scene! ;) Well thanks for everything you guys I hope you like my character! R&R! **


	5. Chapter 5

Is anyone ever really ready to dine with the royal family of Asgard, and potentially be in love with their youngest son? Adopted or not Loki is still a prince and a demi-god and she's only a street kid that somehow got mixed in.

He didn't know what to expect when he was pacing around the bottom of the grand staircase that led from his wing. He had been pacing for a good five minutes until Thor had interrupted him and told him to relax. Of course that did little to sooth Loki's inner turmoil over the night's outcome, so within three minutes of Thor's, "Comforting words", he was back pacing again. Odin had arrived and again told him to stop worrying, and again Loki's inner turmoil grew some more. Now he stood pacing again, back and forth the entire length of the stairs. Although he had been prepared a good half-hour before he was due, Loki wanted this night to be perfect.

First, they were going to eat dinner with his family, than by the time dessert came, they'd be gone, leaving Loki alone with his guest. After the dessert was through, he hoped to return to the library and just talk to the beautiful assassin. He prayed to all his lucky stars that she'd just go with the flow, although he doubted it, she was very much independent, and after hearing her story, he guessed she rarely, if ever, let anyone control her situation.

As Betsy walked down the now familiar hall, her nerves started to kick in. She had never felt nerves this bad since before leaving the Cobra program and being stationed in D.C. with the James family. That was the last time, meeting a family for the first time. Now here she was, nervous about a dinner with a prince, and not just any prince, the prince of Asgard and the god of mischief himself, why should she be nervous? He could only snap her neck in a split second if he desired, yet he hadn't. Yet he hadn't. He hadn't threatened her at all since her arrival in Asgard, nor did she expect him to. He seemed to want her friendliness and affections. She didn't understand why, but she would gladly take an over-friendly Loki over the killer Loki.

Finally she turned the last corner and was now standing dead center in at top of the grand staircase. Frigga had already left her side to walk down to a smiling Odin and Thor. Loki was still pacing around at the bottom of the staircase and hadn't noticed her presence yet. He seemed oblivious to everything around him. Finally Thor cleared his throat loudly in his brother's ear, causing Loki to jump and turn towards the staircase. When their eyes locked, his jaw dropped and Betsy was pretty sure her heart stopped beating.

He thought he had seen the most beautiful women in the entire nine realms, but he had been sorely mistaken. None of the beautiful mistresses who attended the annual Asgard ball came close to the beauty that Betsy was. Her short dark brown hair tide back in a blue ribbon, her beautiful big brown eyes highlighted by the minimal makeup she wore, her usual ruby red lips now a more muted color, and her curves. God Loki just wanted to stare at the beautiful picture of her for hours. The dress hugged her body very nicely, revealing her curvy hips and waist to the demi-god, and her beautiful neck and light cleavage on display as well. Her tan arms were now sparkling and the pearl necklace around her neck, he recognized as one that Frigga had specially made for her future daughter-in-laws. Loki wondered where she got that idea.

Betsy eyes never left Loki's as she descended the stairs down towards the waiting royals. When she finally reached the last step, she was still a good half a foot shorter than Loki's 6'2 frame. She bowed her head respectfully, but Loki refused to have her break eye contact, even for a second. He boldly placed his hand under her chin and raised her head, forcing her to look at his red eyes and blue skin again. She smiled warmly up at him, although his hideous monster form would have many running towards the Bifrost, she stood her ground and let his icy skin touch an intimate part of her, a part she never thought could be touched.

"Would you grant me the honor of escorting you to dinner, me lady?" Loki asked, in his Asgardian accent that left a small blush growing on Betsy's check.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." She replied, her southern drawl seeping in to her voice, making Loki's smile twice as big as before. As he lead her arm linked with his down the hall, neither of them realized none of the rest of the royal family had followed. Instead they let the two walk alone down the decorated hallway towards the main dinner room alone, smiling inside and out.

"She'll be good for him." Queen Frigga pointed out, once the two were out of hearing distance. It wasn't a question it was a statement, a fact. Something both the King and future king of Asgard knew all too well.

"Indeed my love, I believe she'll be able to save not only our son, but Asgard as well." Odin replied, kissing his wife's hand and leading her towards their side of the castle. They left Thor, smiling from ear to ear watching his brother leave, than his parents' leave, and finally leaving towards the Bifrost, on his way to visit his love.

Once they entered the large dinning room, brightly lit and warmed by the fire, the two lovebirds noticed the rest of the family had not followed. Not that they were complaining it was just that they had expected them to be close behind. They had been too busy talking with each other to notice or to care about the rest of the family's absence. Loki pulled out Betsy's chair for her and gently pushed it back up towards the table before he sat down at the opposite end of the table in his own chair. Dinner was served and the Asgard Royal Band played soft music along with their meal. When they finished their plates, and before dessert could arrive Betsy finally broke the romantic silence.

"What's behind those doors over there?" she asked, gesturing towards the double gold doors behind Loki's chair. He turned his head and noticed the doors.

"That leads to the grand ballroom. It's where the Asgardian Ball is held." He replied, not giving it much afterthought. He finished his Asgardian alcohol, and continued to watch the beautiful woman across from him.

"C'mon let's dance!" Betsy said, pleased with the answer she received from Loki. He stopped, completely shocked by her outburst, he had never pictured her to be the kind to dance.

"What?" he asked, still recovering from her spontaneous idea.

"Let's dance!" Betsy repeated, already out of her chair, and half pulling, half dragging him out of his and through the double doors.

Once she pushed the double doors wide open, both realized the room's grand chandelier was already lit.

"C'mon Loki, dance with me!" Betsy exclaimed, music suddenly echoing off the marble floors, the glass windows, and the high ceiling making the room sound like a music box. Betsy began to dance in time to the music.

"I'm not much of a dancer. I was more into reading." Loki replied, still not moving from his stance near the main door.

"C'mon, it's not that hard! I'll teach you." Betsy offered, twirling back towards the blue demi-god and grabbing his wrists. He hesitantly followed her lead, and allowed her to move his hands into the proper positions. His left hand in hers, and his right hand on her waist. He was nervous to say the least, and he prayed he wouldn't mess it up. It had been years since he last danced, and the last time he had, it hadn't ended well. A little mischievous prank gone wrong. He gulped once and followed her movements. The music began to slow and change into a nice soft lullaby type ballet. Betsy's eyes immediately began to shine at recognition of the song.

"I love this song!" she replied, breathing in a deep breath before the female singer started singing.

"_We were strangers, starting out on a journey, never dreaming what we'd have to go through, now here we are and I'm suddenly standing at the beginning with you…"_

Loki twirled Betsy in time with the music, and was glad to see he didn't screw up. She easily twirled out than back into his arms again, let her back hit his chest and then twirling again to face him. Than a male singer began to sing alongside the female.

"_No one told me, I was going to find you…unexpected what you did to my heart, when I lost hope you were there to remind me…this is the start…"_

Loki easily twirled Betsy around the room again, and she easily let him. Together the duo continued.

"_And life is a road and I wanna keep going, love is a river I wanna keep flowing, life is a road now and forever wonderful journey, I'll be there when the world stops turning, I'll be there when the storm is through, in the end I wanna be standing at the beginning with you…"_

Loki began to catch onto the rhythm of the song, and the movements Betsy was showing him. He actually began to enjoy himself. The female voice took over once again.

"_We were strangers, on a crazy adventure, never dreaming how our dreams would come true…" _

The male singer began joining her.

"_Now here we stand, unafraid of the future, at the beginning with you…"_

Loki began to twirl Betsy again and this time, pull her close back instead of allowing her to turn in, than he began moving her all over the dance floor. The duet continued.

"_And life is a road and I wanna keep going, love is a river I wanna keep flowing, life is a road, now and forever wonderful journey, I'll be there when the world stops turning, I'll be there when the storm is through, cause in the end I wanna be standing at the beginning with you…"_

They continued to dance, oblivious of the watchful eyes of Loki's parents and Thor, from the far side of the room. The two singers continued together.

"_I knew there was somebody some where, like me alone in the dark, now I know my dreams will live on, I've been waiting so long, nothings gonna tear us apart…"_

Betsy gently laid her head on Loki's chest; she was still too short to reach his shoulder. The musician continued.

"_And life is a road and I wanna keep going, love is a river I wanna keep flowing, life is road now and forever wonderful journey, I'll be there when the world stops turning I'll be there when the storm is through, cause in the end I wanna be standing at the beginning with you…" _

Loki quickly perked up at her sudden display of affections, and lightly laid his head chin on top her head, wrapped his arms around her small waist, and began to dance in small circles. The singers continued together.

"_And life is a road and I wanna keep going, love is a river I wanna keep flowing on…starting out on a journey, life is road and I wanna keep going, love is river and I wanna keep flowing in the end I wanna be standing at the beginning with you…" _

As the song came to an end, both had stopped moving their feet, but were still wrapped in each other's arms. Betsy still hadn't lifted her head from his chest, and he didn't bother to loosen his arms from around her waist. When Betsy did eventually look up to see Loki's red eyes shining down on her, her face lit up with happiness, happiness she hadn't felt in a long time. She stood on her tiptoes, while Loki just bent his head down and the two's lips met again, for their second time. This time it was slow, and the two took time exploring each other. Loki tongue politely asking entrance into her mouth, and hers gladly allowing him the access. When the two pulled back for some air, the look of love, lust, and desire filled both their eyes and hearts.

Back on Earth however it wasn't as joyous. True it had been a month in Earth time; Clint had fully recovered from his body's sudden illness from the Asgardian atmosphere. He was now being debriefed by his girlfriend and co-worker, Agent Maria Hill, and was having a hard time focusing. It had been a month since he last saw his partner and friend the King Cobra. He knew she could handle herself, but he was worried about her anyways. Loki wasn't a usual criminal; he was the god of mischief and prince of Asgard. He could whatever the hell he wanted to! For God's sake Clint's fear for his partner's safety was quickly turning him into a mess. It had taken a good week for him to recover from his Asgardian sickness, something Thor had warned them about earlier might happen to Midgardians who travel to Asgard for the first time. The trip was not an easy one on the body and everyone's body reacts differently. Some take a few days to get acclimated, some weeks, and some never. Clint was one of the never.

"BARTON!" Agent Hill's voice suddenly jerked him from his thoughts. She had given him leave for another week after his return, insisting that after the whole "Chitauri and Loki" incident, Clint needed some time off. Thankful Director Fury agreed, wanting him to take it easy before being sent into action at recovering Agent Cobra. Although Thor had only visited once since Betsy's kidnapping, had hadn't been much help. When Clint tried to intimidate the 6'3 god, he just made himself look like a foul, being much shorter and less intimidating. Thor understand that Clint meant well, and didn't receive hard feelings, but he warned Clint not to interfere with Asgardian business. That Betsy would return to them, the time not known to him, but he guaranteed she would.

"Clint! C'mon stay with me!" Again Maria's voice broke through his memories.

"What? Sorry Maria. I've been a little off today." He replied bitterly. He didn't like this constant thought about worrying about the much younger agent. Though the girl was twenty-seven about to turn twenty-eight in a few days, he couldn't help but worry. He himself knew she had suffered and survived through much worse than any agent in the past ever had, but that still didn't stop his constant worry. He cared for he like a big brother to a younger sister, and he just wanted what was best for you. Maria understood their relationship and hadn't tried to lecture him, until today.

"Barton she's fine! Don't worry about her, she's a big girl, she can take care of herself. You on the other hand haven't slept in nearly a month, you've been in and out of the medical bay, and you look like you haven't eaten anything in two months! Clint you need to take better care of yourself before you can even think about rescuing her." Maria stern, but understanding voice spoke to him. He listened to every word she said, clung to them actually he so desperately needed someone to tell him Betsy's situation and statues. Had Loki treated her just as badly as he treated him? Did Betsy even have enough food to eat and water to drink? Was she being locked up in that awful tower? She had to still be alive, or else Thor wouldn't have promised that she'd be back. No she's still alive! She has to be, she's a fighter, and she'd never let Loki take her down without a hard fight! Barton still couldn't get over the thought of Loki mistreating her. Although she had suffered worse in her days as a free agent, it still didn't stop Clint for worrying about his friend.

"I know, I need sleep, food, and rest. But seriously Maria, how do you expect me to do any of those things without being worried sick about her?" Clint asked, looking at Maria with pleading eyes. She understood his worries, she had plenty of people herself she constantly worried about, but she couldn't let this eat Clint alive, or else he'd be no good in the field and could get himself killed or someone else.

"Don't worry Barton, she's a big girl, she'll be ok. Director Fury asked me to wait until you were ready to take this assignment on, but I think it'll kill you if I want any longer." She replied, looking down at the case file in front of them.

"What's in it?" Clint asked, picking up the thin file and opening to reveal its content.

"It's an operation, 'Operation Cobra', you're going with Stark and Rogers to bring her home. Banner hasn't been answering any of SHIELD's calls lately, says he doesn't want anything to do with the monster that Loki is, so its up to you three now. You've got to bring her home safe and sound before Loki does something horrible to her." Maria concluded, for once letting emotion slip into her voice, and the worry pent up worried about her friend show in her face. Although Maria and Betsy hadn't been particularly close, Maria was Betsy's closet girl friend besides Jane and Pepper. Although Betsy didn't particularly like Pepper's boyfriend or her innocence and squeamishness, she admired her ability to put up with Tony, a trait in by itself deserved an award. Although she had only met Jane a handful of times, the two had hung out a bit, and discovered their love for "Star Wars" together.

"Don't worry babe, I'll bring her back." Clint said, standing up to kiss his girlfriend on the lips, their first ever display of public affections, just at the right time for Tony and Steve to show-up to witness it.

"You mean 'we'll bring her back' male Katniss." Tony joking said to the now slightly blushing archer, and the very red Agent Hill.

"Stark, Rogers. When did you decide to show up?" Clint asked, turning around to reveal an emotionless face, yet his checks spoke otherwise.

"Sorry Casanova didn't realize it was a 'lock n lips' meeting. My bad, we can leave you alone if you want though." Tony continued to joke, making Steve turn a very red color.

"Don't leave, I'm sure you've already been briefed by Fury to your next mission?" Maria asked, Stark, suddenly turning serious although her face was still pink.

"Yup he did. Suiting up in a bit. When do we leave?" Tony asked.

"Tomorrow." Maria answered, all her professionalism back.

**OK thanks to all the fans her favored and followed this fic! I didn't think it'd be that popular but I thank everyone for the support! It means a lot! Ok so I threw in the famous "Beauty and the Beast" scene (Hoped you enjoyed) and I added Clint and the other Avengers back into the story. Next chapter might stretch out for a bit and might be awhile before up since school, and life gets in the way, but I'll try to have it up before Saturday! Well review if you have any suggestions or events you'd want me to add to the story! I'm kinda just making it up as I go along, I have a long-term plan it's just a matter of reaching it. So I hope to keep this under a 20-chapter story, if not I might have to add a sequel! I'll try to post a Loki/Natasha story to if I have time! I'm not confident enough in how to portray Natasha, so I kinda tried a test with my character "Betsy". Well I hope you enjoyed! Here's the link to the song I mentioned in this chapter! - ( watch?v=cvVIFyy1iLo) Thanks again! Au Revoir! **


	6. Chapter 6

After their romantic dance, Loki led Betsy towards the grand balcony that wrapped around the grand ballroom. It was a warm night, with the lights shinning from the magical city surrounding them. Betsy had grown up in L.A. and was used to admiring the ocean, the desert, and the city all in one. Being in Asgard was a totally new environment for her.

"It's beautiful here. No pollution, no street gangs, no drugs or crime lords. Just the city and the stars." Betsy spoke into the silence. She usually wasn't one for small talk, but she loved the sound of Loki's Asgardian accent and the way he said her name. She stood by the rail that kept her from falling down into the grand gardens of the castle; it was the same gardens she saw form her bedroom, which was above the grand ballroom she realized.

"What do you mean, 'street gangs'?" Loki asked, unfamiliar with the term. Having read a lot of books he was quit familiar with Midgardian culture, now he found it very useful. But he had never read anything about these street gangs that Betsy claimed didn't exist in Asgard, so he was eager to learn more.

"'Street gangs' are groups of people, usually not very nice ones, that live out on the streets of many major cities. They do some illegal activities sometimes, and other times they just hang out and smoke, do drugs, commit petty crimes. It depends on the gang. They're very dangerous, at least the ones in L.A. and New York. They usually connected with Mexican gangs or drug cartels, at least the ones in L.A. The ones in New York City are more street gangs that make a reputation for themselves. It's usually best to stay away from them if you ever get in contact with them, unless you're already friends with them from the beginning." Betsy replied, looking down at the streets of Asgard. She knew Asgard didn't have any cartels or drug lords, it probably had it's own sort of illegal network operating under the radar.

"I don't believe Asgard has any of these, 'gangs', as you call them. But I'm sure that they exist. As future king I'm not allowed to socialize with anyone that's not friendly with the law. Odin would have a heartache." Loki said sounding upset that he's not allowed to cause more mischief than he is allowed.

"Well street gangs are usually not full of nice people. They're mostly convicts, orphans, and thugs." Betsy replied, still gazing at the city. It was late, both knew it, but neither cared.

"Did you ever meet these street gangs yourself?" Loki asked, suddenly curious about the years he hadn't heard of since the death of her parents at fifteen. She hadn't met Barton until she was twenty-six, Barton had told him that when he was under his possession. She had skipped over eleven years of her life when she had told him her story.

"Yes, I was part of a street gang. After the Cobras killed the James family, I hit the road, heading west towards California, the land of opportunity. I was fifteen, and I didn't have any friends to keep me in D.C. so I left. When I got to L.A. I met a street racer, Dominic Toretto, and his gang. He adopted me." She stopped, tears filling her eyes. "He promised to keep me safe, and he did. For eleven years he kept me safe." She stopped again and turned towards Loki, showing him her broken face. He had never seen her guard dropped until now, when she finally told him about the first time in her life she actually felt loved. "After Dom and his younger sister, Mia, adopted me life got a lot better for me. I was Dom's only daughter and Mia's only child. She died a nine years later." She stopped and let the tears fall down her check, hitting the concert rail. Loki stepped behind her and wrapped her up in his strong arms. She turned in his embrace and buried her face in his chest. "She was murdered. She didn't stand a chance, a drug lord name Braga, killed her because it was the easiest way to get to Dom. She paused again and let a few more tears fall.

"Shhh, it's ok. I'm sorry I asked." Loki repeated a familiar phrase again, he hated having to feel sorry for anything, especially seeing the woman he's come to love cry.

"It's ok. SHIELD doesn't even know I was in contact with the Torettos. Like I said I was adopted and immediately everyone loved me. I told Dom and Mia about everything, the Cobra program, SHIELD attacking the Pythonomorpha program, and me being a well trained killer. They didn't seem to care though, they still wanted me in their lives and in their family and I couldn't have asked for anything better. Two years later Brian O'Connor, the cop or 'busta', came into the picture and he and Mia instantly become inseparable my brother, then Jesse was murdered, shot by Johnny Tran and his cousin." She sighed again, remembering Mia and herself holding Jesse as he took his final breaths. He didn't stand a chance; they had shot a good five bullets through his sick body. "After Jesse's murder, Letty, Dom's at the time girlfriend, left the family because she couldn't stand Dom loving me more than her. She was jealous of Dom's affections towards me, and his over-protecting ways. She never wanted a child and she sure as hell reminded me everyday that she didn't want me there. So she left when Dom gave her an ultimatum. After Letty left, Dom's friend Leon took off and abandoned the family too. It was after a carjack went bad. That's when we learned that Brian was a cop. Vince, Dom's childhood best friend and my uncle, always blamed Brian for breaking the family up. Well after all that happened, Dom and I took off, leaving Mia, by herself to watch over the house. We ended up in the Dominican Republic. After that we headed up to Panama City, when we got a call from Mia that she wanted us home that Brian had returned. So Dom and I drove back up to the city and Brian told us about his motives, about who was hunting, Braga, and that he was connected to a lot of answers the F.B.I. wanted. He also heard news that Letty was racing for Braga, and her body had been found. So Dom and Brian took off after Braga and to find Letty. They ended up in Mexico and killed Braga. That's when they met my Aunt Gisele, and she came back up with them. She had a huge crush on Dom, but after meeting me she realized that Dom's heart belonged to his daughter, and she backed off. After all that happened, Dom turned himself in to the feds, Brian tried to ask for clemency for his actions, but the court sentenced him for life in Lompoc detention center. He had already been the twice before, and I was there once. So Brian, Mia, my uncles Tego and Rico and myself decided to break him out. After that we fled to Rio, where we met up with my uncle Vince again. After Brian screwed things up in L.A. the first time, he took off down south. After we met up with him, we decided to do one final job, the one that would keep us off the grid for life. We decided to rob the man that ran the city of Rio, Hernan Reyes. We called in backup, Brian's two best friends, Tej and Roman Harper or Rome. And Dom called back in Gisele, his longtime friend Han, and Tego and Rico. Together we made a plan to steal all of Reyes' money. But the F.B.I. back in the L.A. sent their best tracker after us, Luke Hobbs. He hunted us while Reyes' men hunted us. But both failed, we stole the money and took off and fell off the grid. Dom met a cop in Rio, Elena Neves, and she tagged along since her husband died in the Favelas, a rough part of the city." she stopped and took in a deep breath. Loki didn't realize that for eleven years she had a family. She had never spoken about them to Clint or the Avengers, he would know, Clint hadn't mentioned a thing. "After we successful completed the job, we all went our separate ways. After that I resorted back to my older habits of killing when I learned that men who were mad that we killed Braga and Reyes were hunting us. First they killed Han in Tokyo, Gisele died next, but we still haven't found her body, Tego and Rico were attacked in Morocco. After that Dom, Brian, Rome, and Tej fled to New York City to wait for me after I came home from a mission. Well I never got to say goodbye." She stopped and let out a fresh round of tears. Loki now understood why she closed herself off. The only people she had ever let herself love were now all dead. She couldn't protect them. "I came back in time to hold Dom's hand when he died." She stopped and tried to breathe. "After they died, I took everything they owned and destroyed it, not wanting anything to do with it. I only kept Dom's necklace." She stopped and let out another shaky breath.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. It's going to be ok." Loki kept reassuring in her ears. Betsy listened, but didn't entirely comprehend it. Her legs suddenly felt weak, with Loki's warm breath in her ears, and she fell forward, landing square against his chest, causing Loki to hold her even tighter. "Come now, you're tired lets get you to sleep." He said, picking her up into his arms again, bridal style, and walked her up the grand staircase and back into her room. As he kicked her door opened again, and laid her gently on the queen-sized bed, she grabbed his arm.

"Stay." She commanded. Not letting his arm out of her iron grip. He understood that she was hurting, she hadn't revealed herself to anyone, except him, and he wanted to prove to her she made the right decision. So he did, he stayed. He laid down beside her and wrapped her up in his arms, while she snuggled in close to his chest. They both fell asleep, wrapped in each other's arms.

Thor had just finished his visit with Jane, when Maria called him, and asked him to come into SHIELD headquarters. He happily obliged, already halfway there.

"Hello friends-" Thor began, smiling brightly to wards the three male Avengers and Agent Hill.

"Thor sit down, and listen." Maria snapped. Not at all in a pleasing mood. Clint had to admit, he liked the way she could get when she was pissed.

"What is wrong lady Maria?" Thor asked in a genuinely innocent voice.

"It's time. I don't care what 'Asgard code' is; we need to bring Betsy home. Today." Maria stated. It was only 7:00 in the morning, yet she already felt ready to go back to bed. Maria couldn't help but worry about her friend, and all the tortures that Loki could be putting her through.

"I'm sorry lady Maria, that's impossible. Heimdall has closed the Bifrost until my expected return." Thor said, now more serious than any of them have ever seen him.

"Thor, listen to me. If Betsy isn't home by tomorrow, I will send the Avengers there myself to bring her back, despite the consequences of the action. She needs to come home, have a full physical and psychological appointment. If she's not home by tomorrow. I'm pretty sure Fury will send a nuclear bomb to Asgard himself. Is that what you want?" Maria asked, now in a threatening tone, leaving little, to no room for argument.

"I'm sorry lady Maria, that you feel this way about Betsy's stay in Asgard. But she will not be coming home anytime soon." Thor replied, not at all phased by the SHIELD's agent hidden threat.

"Why are you keeping her there? Do you have any ideas what Loki could be doing to her? Have you seen she's been taken there?" Maria asked, no furious beyond belief. She was ready to shot Thor through the forehead to get the point across.

"I am well aware of her presence in Asgard, lady Maria. I have seen her since her arrival; she's perfectly healthy and happy, quite content really. I've never seen her smile, laugh, and joke around before now." Thor replied, now growing angrier at their hidden accusation. "Loki is being a gentleman with her, and I'm offended to think that you're doubt in my brother has caused you to make such wild accusation without a piece of evidence!" Thor bellowed at the now stunned Maria. She understood that Thor wanted to protect his brother, but enough was enough. She wasn't going to allow him to keep one of her fellow agents, and friend captive any longer.

"Thor I'm giving you one warning and one ultimatum and that's final. If you don't return Betsy to SHIELD headquarters by 5:00 this afternoon, I will allow the Avengers to go ahead and attack Asgard, on account of kidnapping and refusal to cooperate." She said in an icy tone that didn't even make Thor flinch. She sighed and laid her final card on the table, knowing this could cause more drama to the already existing problem. "And you'll never see Dr. Foster again. I'll make sure she's transferred to a secure and secret location, and I'll make sure you'll never know where. If you care at all for Jane, you'll bring Betsy back, now." Maria dragged out the last sentence, letting the threat soak into Thor's brain. She gave him the ultimatum, now he had to take the bait.

"I will not ruining my brother's happiness, and last chance of redemption. I love Jane Foster, and nothing that SHIELD can do will change that. I've been nothing but honorable and faithful to her, she'll understand that I have to protect my family and my home too." Thor replied, hurt by Maria's low striking attempt to get him to cave. Maria was taken back by his denial still of allowing Betsy to return home. What was so special about the twenty-seven year old agent that Loki needed her so badly?

"Fine, but don't come crying to me if you never see Jane again." Maria stated in a cold voice. She turned to leave but was shocked to find Jane standing there, arms crossed and wearing Thor's oversized red flannel shirt.

"How dare you! Maria I thought we were friends? How could you threaten my boyfriend like that? I always thought SHIELD was a dirty agency, but now I see that their agents aren't much better. I'm not going anywhere, and I'm standing by Thor's decision to protect Loki and his home. You don't know the whole story Maria, so don't try and act like you do!" Jane snapped at the agent. Maria and her were friends, they had bonded since Loki's attack on New York City, them along with Pepper and Cobra, and the four had become fairly close, sharing mutual friends and all.

"Jane, Loki killed thousands of people, he destroyed a quarter of the city, and he betrayed his 'family'. I don't know why you'd defend him! And what do you mean I don't know the 'whole story'?" Maria snapped back at her friend. She liked Jane, but she liked knowing that all her agents and the Avengers were account for too.

"You didn't know?" Jane started, "Loki needs to fall in love with someone, in one Earth's year, or else he chances loosen the Asgardian throne, and maybe his life!" Jane snapped back at Maria, annoyed at her ignorance and quick judgment of the situation. She didn't like Loki anymore than Maria did, but she loved Thor, and Loki being Thor's brother, she had to accept that he's part of Thor's family and life, and if she receives Thor, she has to be prepared to have to deal with Loki too. She didn't like the idea of defending the monster she knew he was, but she also knew her boyfriend, and friend both had feelings for him. Betsy had on one rare occasion of trustfulness, had opened up about her growing affections for Thor's younger brother. Knowing Jane was in love with Thor, she thought it'd be easier to talk to her, since they were both in the same boat, in love with a demi-gods and princes.

"No I didn't know! How was I supposed to know? She didn't tell me! She never told me anything before she was taken!" Maria yelled back at the doctor. She liked Jane, she liked Thor, she liked Betsy, but she didn't like the idea of any of them defending Loki and his 'honor'. "Jane, he's a murderer! He's killed many lives and wrecked God knows how many! How can you forgive him?" Maria asked, suddenly more passionate about the situation then she original thought.

"How did you forgive Betsy, for all the lives she's taken and destroyed?" Jane asked, knowing it was a slippery slope.

"Hey! She did that to survive, Loki did that for fun! There's a difference!" Clint quickly interjected defending his partner's honor and respect. He knew many didn't approve of her being in SHIELD and almost all the other agents hated that she was an Avenger, so he felt it was his job as her friend, partner, and only family she ever knew, or so he thought, to protect her honor and place in SHIELD.

"Don't try and make excuses for her Clint! She did kill for 'fun' too at one point! She's admitted to it, and has deep regret for it! Maybe Loki does too! Ever think about extending the 'benefit of the doubt' to someone other than your 'partner'?" Jane snapped at Clint, already motivated by the adrenaline pumping through her veins.

"I know she did. But she's sorry! Is Loki sorry? I don't think so!" Clint barked back at the scientist.

"We wouldn't know since none of you give him a chance!" Jane snapped back. Thor moved quickly to stand between her and Clint while he bolted from his chair to stand toe to toe with the 6'3 demi-god.

"Don't you do anything you'll regret, Agent Hawkeye." Thor warned as he glared at him with dangerous eyes. Barton took the hint and backed off, knowing well Thor would live up to his threat if Jane were put at risk.

"Enough! You guys bickering like children won't bring her back, nor will it prove if Loki is truly sorry for his actions. I say lets bring them both back and sort this all out, once and for all." Steve yelled at his fellow teammates and the scientist. He knew team work required trust, friendship, and cooperation. They wouldn't be useful for SHIELD or the United States if they kept arguing back in forth.

"The Cap's right. We just need to go to Asgard and get Betsy and Loki to explain everything themselves. I vote for plan Cap!" Tony backed up Steve, to Steve's surprise, raising his hand in favor of his plan. The other nodded in agreement and decided to call a mutual truce for the time being, knowing nothing would be accomplished if they didn't.

"Then it's settled. We'll leave immediately for Asgard." Tony finished. The rest nodded and agreement and Thor also nodded his approval of the situation. The team took off an hour later, traveling to the spot in the desert where Heimdall waited for Thor's return. As the Bifrost was activated, they felt the air around them change. Finally the dust settled and they were face to face with Heimdall, the gatekeeper.

**So this took awhile to write, sorry if it's choppy I kinda want to get this chapter out and start on with the confrontation already. Haha I know that's not a good excuse for making a bad chapter but I think you guys will like what I have in store. Thanks to everyone who's read, followed, and favored this fic! I didn't think you guys would like it as much as you do! Thanks so much it really motivates me to write! Thanks so much! **


	7. Chapter 7

It was the midnight by the time Betsy awoke from her nightmare, to find Loki's strong arms wrapped around her small waist. He felt warm, despite his cold exterior appearance and heritage. He fit snugly against her back; match all her curves with his own, fitting like two puzzle pieces. She awoke to the sound of voices coming from outside, Loki having more sensitive ears than hers, leapt out bed to watch out her large window at the fuss.

"It's Thor. He's returned from Midgard. I believe he is trying to ask Allfather something. I shall go down and speak with my brother." Loki said, answering her unasked question. She nodded her head, and was rewarded with a kiss to the forehead by the demi-god prince. "I shall return shortly, go back to sleep." He replied, leaving her alone in her room.

Once the door shut, Betsy was too wide-awake with curiosity to not venture towards the throne room where she knew Odin sat everyday. She slipped out of her room, silent as the night, her years of training making it second nature to walk quietly. She heard the sound of yelling and when she walked into the throne room, was greeted with the sight of Loki, Thor, and some pissed off Avengers.

After the Avengers had successfully made it through the Bifrost, Heimdall was waiting for them, unblinkingly staring past them towards space.

"Welcome to Asgard, Captain America, Iron Man, and Hawkeye. And welcome home, Prince Thor." Heimdall spoke to the men and bowing slightly before the future king. Thor nodded his head in acknowledgement and led the group of men off towards the castle. Once inside, he began instructing the team.

"I will take you to Allfather, there he will summon Loki and Agent Buckingham, and we'll be able to discuss our situation with them, and have Allfather's blessing at our next task." Thor commanded in his deep voice. He left no room for discussion, and the rest of the Avengers, knowing they were no longer on Earth, had no choice but to follower the demi-god's decision.

Although Hawkeye didn't feel the best once being transported back to Asgard, he hid his emotions and feelings well, placing a look of determination and irritation upon his face, and taking calm deep breaths. He knew he didn't have much time before he'd feel the side affects of their journey, but his determination to bring his partner home was stronger than his queasiness.

Once they entered the throne room, bowed before the Allfather, and politely answered all his questions, Loki arrived, dressed in his usual green and black leather and metal armor without his helmet or cap.

"Allfather, what are they doing here?" he asked, looking at the three Avengers and his brother. The three men had never seen Loki in his Jotunheim form, with the exception of Clint but were too sick to pay close attention, and were quickly showed their amazement and fear of his threatening look. Although no one could see Stark's face behind the Iron Man helmet, he made the sound between a gasp, and a shriek. Loki didn't feel all that great with his looks, and became more self-conscious upon hearing and witnessing their reactions.

"They have come for the girl known as, King Cobra. Where is she?" Odin asked, looking down with his one good eye at his adopted son. Thor understood what turmoil Odin was going through, wanting his son to be redeemed and wanting to remain peaceful with the people of Midgard, was not an easy task for the king.

"Clint? Stark? Rogers? What are you doing here?" the southern voice of Agent Cobra rang through the large room. She had snuck up behind Loki, and he hadn't felt her presence, too focused on the men in front of him. He turned to see her, still dressed in the beautiful yellow ball gown from the previous night. The three Avengers were surprised to see her so well dressed, and well fed. She had no physical markings on her, besides the scars she had from her life as a Cobra, and her voice and eyes held no signs of possession.

"Betsy? C'mon we've got to get you out of here!" Stark said first, breaking the three men's silence. He walked towards her and grabbed her arm with one of his armored hand.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Loki growled at the 5'9 Avenger. Tony instantly let her arm go, and moved his hands up into his defensive stance with the engines within his suit roaring to life. His hands began to glow with the energy it was able to shot on stand-by.

"Don't make me hurt you big guy. All we want is to bring her home." Tony said, Clint instantly had his bow and arrows ready, and Steve had his shield ready to throw.

The three versus one team quickly were established, while Odin could do little to calm the growing situation.

"She's not going anywhere." Loki growled at the three battle ready Avengers. Thor instantly stepped between his brother and his teammates, wanting a peaceful discussion as opposed to the fighting.

"Please friends, let us just talk about this in a more civil manner. I'm sure Loki has a good reason for his motive to keep Lady Betsy here." Thor began, but was interrupted by Clint shooting off his first arrow, aimed for Loki's eye.

"Clint!" Betsy screamed in an angered voice as the arrow soared at high speed towards the blue demi-god. He easily caught it and sent it flying towards the wall where it exploded.

At that moment, Clint jumped onto Loki tackling out the window and onto the balcony and roofs outside. Tony and Steve instantly tried to join the fight, but Thor jumped between them and the window, sending them hurling out the castle and down towards the courtyard below. Betsy ran to the window watching the people she cared about the most in the world fight with each other. She instantly ran to her room to find her SHIELD suit and to regain her weapons that she had brought originally with her.

Outside in the castle's courtyard, Thor, Steve, and Tony were all fighting, like they had in the woods when Thor first returned to fetch Loki when SHIELD had captured him the first time. Now here the three Avengers stood facing each other, ready to duke it out again, but with a different motive this time.

"You said you wouldn't attack! You gave me your word that we talk about this, not fight like mindless warriors!" Thor was yelling and accusing the two other Avengers; Steven hung his head in shame, knowing he did promise his word to the future king. Tony, also hung his head, knowing Thor was right, fighting wouldn't solve anything, the three called a mutual truce again and proceeded to find Clint and Loki who they found fighting it out on the roofs of the castles.

Loki was on the run, he was constantly climbing higher out of Clint's attempts to stab him, slash him, or punch him. Although Loki had expert training in hand-to-hand combat, his alien strength would also favor him, he didn't want to hurt Clint, because of what he meant to Betsy. So instead he fled, trying to reach the large balcony a good five stories above him, where he could face him.

By then, Betsy had discarded the beautiful ball gown, and the fancy jewelry to change back into her dark blue/black SHIELD jumpsuit with her holsters full of guns, knives, and ammunition ready. She just finished tying her boots when Gus came running in.

"Lady Betsy! Prince Loki is being chased by a man with a bow!" Gus was screaming franticly to the already worried agent. She merely nodded at the boy and took of running towards the large balcony below her room. She had heard between Gus's frantic cries that explained where Clint was perusing Loki.

As Loki continued to fight and climb his way up the castle's side, he had to stop a few times to fight off Clint, and get another head start. As he reached a small ledge area, it had many statues and with the night being dark, it hid him well. Although Clint, even with his expert eyesight, still couldn't see Loki in the darkness that surrounded the two.

"Come out and fight like a man you chicken!" Clint yelled towards the darkness. He knew he had the edge, knowing Loki's loyalty to Betsy, he knew he wouldn't kill him, so he figured he had nothing to loose. "What's the matter monster? Did you really think she'd stay here forever?" Clint continued to mock his hidden opponent. "Don't ever believe her! After all she is a spy! She's known to be the bets liar on the planet! What makes you think she'd ever be loyal to a monster like you?" He continued to speak towards the hiding demi-god.

"Clint enough! Stop this right now! _We_ gave Thor our word that we wouldn't cause trouble if he agreed to let us come! C'mon Clint he's not worth the fight!" Steve tried to yell up at the sniper.

"You don't know what you're talking about Rogers! He's mine! He's the one who messed with my head, he's the one who killed Coulson, and he's the one who kidnapped my best friend and partner! He's not getting off the hook this time!" Clint shouted back, finally spying his opponent. "Ha! C'mon Loki, face the truth! Betsy's never going to be yours, she'll always be mine!" He shouted at the trickster. Although Loki had promised himself that he wouldn't hurt the sniper because of Betsy's love for him, he couldn't ignore his taunting words, the mockery in his voice, and the condescending attitude he had towards his partner and himself.

Fueled by rage at his last words, Loki leapt out of the darkness and tackled the archer where he stood.

"Don't you dare talk about her like that! She's not anyone's to claim! We are all just lucky to have her in our lives, what makes you think you have any ownership of her?" Loki asked through gritted teeth. He was trying to keep his emotions under control, but it was becoming more and more difficult. He was now holding Clint in a headlock, with a grip that could easily break the sniper's neck.

"Loki!" The two men turned their heads up to look at the figure of Betsy, now clad in her SHIELD uniform but still wearing the pearl necklace that Frigga had given her. "Please stop this Clint! Loki's not the enemy!" Betsy shouted down. A light rain had begun to fall, and Loki's anger towards the archer quickly diminished when he saw Betsy standing above them. He quickly let the archer go and begun climbing the final distance between himself and the one person he cared about more than anything in the entire universe. Betsy had her hand stretched downwards to reach for his, to assist him on the climb up.

"You stayed? Why would you stay?" Loki asked, now leveled with her, and hanging on to the balcony with one hand, and his other stroking her hair. Her dark locks were loose around her face, now being soaked and the curls were falling out. Before Betsy had the chance to answer Loki's question, he roared with pain. Betsy fixed her eyes upon Clint, jamming a knife into Loki's side, with a look of triumph upon his face.

"Clint! How could you?" Betsy screamed at the archer, who lost his balance while trying to add more pain to his prey. He stepped one foot too far, and fell off the roof, Tony, still watching from the courtyard below, instantly flew up and caught the archer, making him drop his knife.

As Betsy helped Loki onto the balcony, making sure to watch his side where the knife wound cut through his armor.

"Betsy? You stayed?" Loki looked mildly shocked, and quit content with the knowledge she hadn't abandoned him like everyone else had.

"Of course I stayed, I would never leave you! This is my entire fault. If I only had gotten here sooner-" she began.

"No! This is not your fault. You did everything you could. I'm just glad I got to see you one last time." Loki coughed out, spitting up blood in the process.

"Don't talk like that. I'm not going anywhere, wait and see you'll be ok. Everything's going to be ok." She began to let hot tears roll down her checks. The rest of the Avengers had quickly made their way through the palace and were now watching the two from the inside of the ball room. Clint was detained by Thor and was watching with a look between regret and satisfaction.

"I'm just glad I got to see you, one last time." Loki repeated, running his hand through her hair and pushing a lock out of her face. She leaned into his cool touch and let the tears fall when his hand fell on the ground, lifeless.

"No! No! Please don't leave me! Don't go! I need you! Please! I love you." She whispered and cried into the chest of the now dead Loki. Thor and Steve both shared a look of pain and hurt watching their teammate and friend cry over the dead prince's body. Stark, now with the face part of his helmet up, turned towards Clint with a deadly look in his eyes.

"I hope you're happy now. She's miserable, what makes you think she'll ever return with us now uh?" he asked in a deadly tone towards the still detained archer. He showed no look and his expression didn't change, even when Loki died, or when Tony's threatening look stared right into his eyes.

"I did what I had to do." Clint responded, knowing damn well that he shouldn't have stabbed Loki, that was crossing the line.

"You will be trialed here in Asgard for your crimes, Agent Barton. Don't expect Allfather to give a light sentence, even he would be willing to declare war on SHIELD, now that Loki's gone." Thor told the unmoving archer in a deadly glare. Deep down, Clint was scared, he didn't like seeing an angry Thor or Stark, but he was mostly worried about what Betsy would do to him, once she got herself together. As the men turned to watch the weeping Cobra, she was still hugging the dead body, still crying into his shoulder.

Suddenly, snowflakes began to fall from the sky, mixing in with the snow. As the snowflakes continued to rain down from the sky, they began coming in different colors, and becoming more and more sparkly and glittery. As they fell around the body of the prince, and the still crying Cobra, Loki's body began to lift up, forcing Betsy to crawl back and stand up, watching the sight unfold before her eyes.

Loki's body began to change; the rigidness and lines on his face began to fad away, and his skin began to change back into the pale color it was the first time she'd met him. His short Jotunheim hair, began to grow out back to the length it was when he had attempted to conquer Earth. The wound on his side began to heal, and he began to glow green. When he landed again, he was laid down on his face, and as Betsy attempted to step near him, he rose to his feet, absorbing his hands and his arms and then he turned. His eyes were no longer blood red, but now they were the big clear green/blue eyes Betsy remembered seeing when she first laid eyes on the prince.

"Loki?" Betsy asked, stepping shyly towards the transformed demi-god. He still wore his green Asgardian robes.

"Betsy?" He asked, his eyes instantly lighting up when they fell upon her gorgeous face. The two ran towards each other and embraced in a warm hug. As the two pulled their faces back to look at each other, Betsy couldn't help but feel overjoyed at the knowledge that he was back, she hadn't lost him. She had lost too many things in her life to loose the thing she loved the most. So the two continued to stare, until finally Loki closed the distance, and captured her lips in a warm and loving kiss. She instantly returned the lovingness and wrapped her arms around his neck, standing on her tippy toes. He helped her by wrapping his arms around her waist, and lifting her closer and high to him, forcing their chests to collide.

As the two continued their make-out session, the rest of the Avengers watched in silence, letting the two share their moment to themselves. Thor's grip on Clint's shoulder had loosened when Loki had transformed back into his normal appearance, and he had let go of his shoulder entirely when the two had embraced. Now he stood in front of Clint, blocking his view of the couple, but he held the same deadly look in his eyes.

"Just because he's not dead, doesn't change the fact that you killed him." Thor said in a dark voice to the sniper. Clint just bowed his head, looking down at his feet, not wanting to meet the eyes of the still angered and overjoyed Thor. He knew what he had done was wrong, but at the time it had seemed so right.

The couple had finished their make out session, leaving them both panting, and staring at each other with lust filled eyes. Betsy had turned first, to acknowledge her teammates and partner. However when her eyes fell on Clint, they instantly narrowed and became the look of a deadly assassin that she was. She walked away from Loki with a purpose in her stride, and Thor stood aside when she stood in front of her partner and teammate.

"How could you?" she asked to Clint, not caring about anyone else in the room.

"I'm sorry Cobs. I did what I thought was right, I'm sorry I let my anger towards Loki blind me from seeing how much you care for him." He said through gritted teeth. He had a few choice words for the god of mischief, but the fact that he was detained, and she had all her weapons, he thought twice before opening his mouth, a thing he rarely, if ever, did.

"'Sorry'? You're sorry that you came here wanting revenge, on the man that I've come to fall in love with? You're sorry for the fact that you almost _killed_ him! And the real reason why you're 'sorry' is because you want me to return to Earth with you! That's why you're really sorry! The fact that you almost murdered a prince is not easily ignored! I thought we were partners?" she said, letting the last sentence sink in. Clint knew he had made a mistake, she didn't trust people easily, and the fact that he ruined it by stabbing the one she loved, wasn't going to be easy to come back from.

"Cobs, I'm sorry! I don't know what to say! How was I supposed to know you fell in love with…him?" he asked, trying to defend the little honor he had left.

"You might have known if you hadn't attacked him! Did you even try to talk to him? No you didn't! You just assumed the worst! Why can't you guess understand that Loki isn't as bad as you believe?" she asked, still unsure if she could ever fully trust her partner again.

"I don't know what else to tell you Cobs, but I'm sorry for hurting you." He replied, giving her a small smile, which she instantly gave a deadly glare back. That ended their conversation, and they still had to debrief Fury about this whole thing still too.

**Just want to say, YES I'm FINALLY DONE WITH THIS SCENE! Sorry if this is a shorter chapter than usually, I want to get out at least one more before Thanksgiving! Btw HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Well I hope y'all are enjoying this series I know I'm having a lot of fun writing it, and I love all the followers and favorites emails I get from yall! Thanks so much! I hope you enjoyed! P.S. sorry to all the Clint fans out there, I sorta made him look like the bad guy, but I promise I'll try to redeem him from this! I just figured he'd want to kill Loki, since he really does. (re-watched the Avengers this weekend so I'm totally freshened up for writing) so sorry bout that, but he'll become a good guy again, and there'll be more moments for all the happy couples! ;) **


	8. Chapter 8

"Father, please allow both Loki and myself to escort the Avengers back to Midgard. We will be home shortly." Asked Thor, kneeling before his father sitting upon the throne. After Loki's transformation back to his Asgardian form, they had instantly returned to the throne room where Allfather sat observing the man his youngest son had grown up to be. He wouldn't admit to anyone, but he missed Loki's green eyes, which clashed with Thor's blue. He loved his adopted son, no matter where he was from or who his father was. As he looked down upon his two sons, and the people Thor has come to known as his team.

"Lady Betsy, what are your thoughts on this situation?" Odin asked suddenly towards the SHIELD agent, dressed in her uniform, and still holding the detained Clint Barton.

"Oh um I, I don't understand, why does my opinion matter?" Betsy asked, flustered by the King's sudden question.

"I am curious, you have not voiced an opinion on the situation, and I would like to ask for your input. According to both my sons, you have a very valuable opinion." Odin replied, smiling down on one of SHIELD's youngest agents.

"Well sir, I'm sorry for what Clint attempted to do. I would like to go along with Loki and Thor if they return to Midgard, there are several conflicts that I need to take care of." She replied in a professional voice. She loved Asgard, she loved Loki, but she had a duty to complete.

"I understand, you may leave with my sons. When do you intend to depart?" Odin asked, referring back to Loki and Thor, Loki remaining quiet in the presence of his adopted father.

"Immediately." Thor's quick reply came. Again Odin nodded and the team bowed their respects before making their way back to the Bifrost.

Clint the entire time had remained in the Asgardian chains that kept him at bay, he felt a little woozy after the adrenaline rush wore off, but he refused to show weakness in front of Loki or the rest of his teammates.

After Heimdall successful transported the group back down to Earth, SHIELD was waiting for them.

"Welcome back, Agent Buckingham, glad to see you don't have any harm." Maria Hill's professional voice spoke to the arrived group. Her face dropped at the sight of Clint, still detained and looking deadly. "Oh my god! What did you do to him?" she asked, running towards Clint's side and dropping her professional façade.

"He committed a crime in Asgard, and we had to take the necessary precautions." Thor explained, but Maria wasn't having it.

"Release him now!" She growled towards the Asgardian Avenger.

"I am sorry Agent Hill, but Agent Barton has committed some crimes against the Asgardian crown-"

"I don't give a damn, let him go! He's not on Asgard anymore!" Maria yells back at Thor, who looks like a puppy who just got kicked.

He obliges and released Clint from the chains that bound his wrists together behind his back. He rubs his wrists before he envelopes Maria in a hug and a wet kiss on the lips before turning back to Loki and Betsy, both just watching from beside Thor. Clint nods one time at Loki before taking Maria's hand and leading her off towards the black SUVs waiting for them.

Back at SHIELD headquarters, Director Fury stands at the head of the conference room's table, with Agent Hill on his right. Although he shows no emotion in his aged face, everyone could feel the anger radiating from his body. He didn't like Loki, he didn't trust Loki, and he sure as hell didn't like his best agent and an Avenger is the one Loki decides to hit on.

"Let me get this straight, Loki was in his 'Frost Giant' form, and than he transformed back into this…human form, all because Agent Buckingham decided to fall in love with him? And on top of all that my best sniper stabs him, and is now being charged with high crimes against the Odinson family and the Asgardian crown?" Fury asked, trying to figure everything that transpired in Asgard.

The Avengers all nodded, and Betsy tightened her grip on Loki's hand, held under the table. She knew Fury wouldn't approve of such displays of affections, but she wanted to remind him that she had his back from now on. They were a team.

"What am I supposed to do with this information?" Fury asked to no one in particular.

"If I may, Director Fury. What if Loki stays here, on Midgard and becomes an Avenger? I am sure SHIELD could use his valuable range of knowledge?" Thor asked, overcome with joy that Loki has survived the wound Clint inflicted on him.

"That could work, but I still don't trust him. He'll be put under your watch and Agent Buckingham's care. If there's any shenanigans he will return to Asgard, end of discussion." Fury said in a cold expression that left no room for arguing. All the Avengers, and Loki, nodded their head in agreement. Furry dismissed them shortly afterwards.

Back in the newly rebuilt Stark Tower, Tony poured himself a drink, with Thor diving into the pop tarts. As the rest of the Avengers and their significant others filled into the room, Pepper finally asked the question that Maria and Jane both wanted to know.

"Where the hell is Loki going to stay?" The rest of the team looked confused, they hadn't given much thought to Loki's sleeping arrangements.

"He can stay with me. I have an apartment here in the city and he'll stay with me." Betsy stated in an even tone, her face revealing nothing but her words harsh and cold. The rest of the Avengers knew better than to argue with her.

"Agreed. Besides I bet you Asgardians can hold your liquor. I don't want to have to restock every day if Loki decides to find a new best friend." Tony stated, finishing off his small drink and returning to the bar for seconds.

The others nodded, no one particularly found of the idea of Loki spending one on one time with the young agent, but knew better then to question her decision.

"Hey Bets, what are you going to do for your birthday?" Jane asked, trying to break the tension in the air. Betsy's birthday was tomorrow, a fact that many forgot in her absence, and Jane only now remembering.

"I don't know. Probably nothing, I never do anything for my birthday." Betsy stated dryly. She hated birthdays, specifically hers. She didn't know why people made such a fuss of it. They do come every year.

"What? You'll be twenty-eight don't you want to party?" Pepper asked, finally getting more comfortable with Loki, although Clint's death glare to him wasn't helping the situation.

"So what? It's just anther year. I should just celebrate making it this far." Betsy stated, taking a beer out of the refrigerator and twisting the cap off.

"I agree with Pepper, you should have an extravagant party with streamers and balloons. You know what, I'll decorate it for you! Consider it my birthday gift to you!" Tony said, now a little more intoxicated than before.

Betsy was going to object when Clint finally opened his mouth.

"Just leave her alone Tony. If she doesn't want to do anything, than don't force her too!" Clint snapped at the playboy. Tony shrugged it off, but Maria glared at Clint and his sudden outburst.

"Clint! Stop it." Betsy growled at her partner and old best friend. Although they hadn't had a one on one time since they returned from Asgard and Loki's almost death at the hands of the sniper, everyone could tell that time was upon them.

"What? What am I doing that's making you so mad? Have you lost your mind? Loki killed Coulson. AND he destroyed half of Manhattan Island. How can you love somebody like that?" Clint asked, clearly angered by the idea of it, and not bothering to hide it.

"Clint I'm warning you, stop it now." Betsy replied back, the hidden threat laced in her words. The rest of the Avengers stepped back allowing the two assassins to talk, but Loki refused to budge from his position by her side.

"C'mon Cobs, what happened to the girl I used to know, the one who hated love and despised the very idea of it?" Clint asked, the mocking tone obvious in his voice.

"That's before I met Loki. What about you archer boy? You said you hated the idea of settling down, yet you've dated Maria for about three months now and you've got wedding bells going off in your head!" Betsy accused right back.

With the fight growing larger by the second, the rest of the Avengers, except for Thor, Jane, and Maria, left and tried to resume a normal conversation and block out the argument that was quickly escalating.

"C'mon Bets, you know I've been crazy for Maria since I met her! How can you pull that one on me?" Clint asked, now standing and looking down at the assassin.

With a fiery look in her eyes, Betsy stood up too and faced the 5'8 sniper.

"How can you say that about me? You don't know anything about me! What makes you think you have the right to judge?" Betsy snapped back, still showing no emotion other than anger.

"How can I? I'm your best friend, your partner, I'm your accomplice you tell me anything and everything! At least I thought you did." He said, sounding hurt at the idea.

"Well I don't. I haven't told you a lot about me, so stop acting like you know what's best for me! Just stop, cause I'm tired of hearing you rant for hours about the things I do and the choices that I make!" Betsy snapped back not bothering to hide her annoyance with her friend.

"What do you mean I don't know everything about you? I thought you told me everything? How am I supposed to trust you?" Clint asked, hurt in his eyes.

"You can't." Betsy stated simply, not bothering to show any pity for the archer.

The look in Clint's eyes said it all, their trust, bond, and friendship were over. She had lied and deceived him like everyone else in her life, before Loki, and Clint finally realized it.

"Fine, but don't expect me to save your ass again." Clint said, storming out of the room.

"How could you do that to him? He trusted you! Hell he even liked you for a little while before he met me! He told me! How do you think he feels knowing the one person he thought he could trust betrayed him?" Maria asked, walking up to the assassin with a look of hatred in her eyes.

"You know what Maria, say and think what you want about me, but I don't care. I made my choices long ago and he made his now. It's over. I'm done. Consider this my resignation from SHIELD and the Avengers initiative." Betsy stated in a cold voice, removing the SHIELD logo on the side of her arm. "Come on Loki, lets get out of here." She said, grabbing her boyfriend's arm and walking out.

Maria, Thor, and Jane just stood there wide-eyed at her decision. Thor looked at his brother as he walked through the doors, following his girlfriend, and the two shared a knowing look and a nod. As the couple disappeared behind the walls, Jane and Thor shared a knowing look as well. Leaving Maria to stay absently at the spot where Betsy previously stood, she didn't know what to do or what to think, except SHIELD lost a valuable asset and may have made a dangerous enemy.

"What do you mean she left? She's gone?" Clint roared at Maria. She stood her ground and watched the expression of the other Avengers, except for Thor, who stood around awkwardly taking in this new information.

"I'm going to kill him, I'm going to kill that son of a bitch, and he did this! He took her away from us!" Clint roared again, anger filling his sense and clouding his vision and judgment.

"Clint stop it! It's over! She's gone. She's not coming back, they've probably returned to Asgard to live the rest of their days out as king and queen. You have to accept her decision and choices. She's not a child, she a full grown woman and you have to understand that." Maria said, placing a reassuring hand on his chest and looking straight into his eyes. He nodded his head in acknowledge but not changing his mood.

"I know, it's just that, she's my partner, I cared for her. To know she's gone, its just hard." He said looking into Maria's eyes and finding comfort there.

"I know, but she's happy now, that's all you could ever want for her." Clint nodded his head and agreement, and they looked out the large balcony window at the skyscrapers of the city, with the rest of the Avengers behind them watching the sunset.

On the other side of the country, two figures stood on a bluff watching the same sunset. The male wore black, green, and gold armor and the female wore a dark blue cat suite with two guns in her holsters at her side. They were wrapped around each other, sitting near the edge watching the sunset beyond the horizon.

"I love you." Former Agent Buckingham said to the man behind her.

"I love you too." Loki Laufeyson Odinson replied to the ex-SHIELD wrapped in his arms.

As the two watched the sunset, they knew that it was the end of a chapter, Betsy's life on Earth had come to an end, and they began to embark on a new chapter, one living in Asgard. As the two lovers watched the final rays of the sun's light disappeared beyond the distance sea line, they both knew that this was the start of a new journey together.

**Yay finally finished! Don't know how y'all like the ending, but I think it's sums up their entire relationship perfectly! I hope to make a BlackWidow/Loki fanfiction soon! Bye! Thanks for all the favorites and follows! So thankful! :)**


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